Offshore Drilling and the American Mind

Posted by Campbell at Saturday, August 09, 2008

Barack Obama's biggest challenge over the next few months will be his ability to use his limitless intelligence to be, well, dumb. Most Americans must consider the Senator to be a man of extreme intelligence, curiosity and open-mindedness. However, as 2000 and 2004 showed, this does not win the presidency. And John McCain is well aware of this.

The offshore drilling debate is exactly what John McCain has been seeking. It's a ludicrous idea, but it plays directly to the millions of morons that inhabit this country. And Barack Obama has little choice but to sidestep reality and play the game. If he speaks the truth, it could cost him the election.

Economists the country over have repeatedly stated that offshore drilling will 1) take at least a decade to suck even a drop of oil and 2) once this minimal oil hits the surface, it will likely have zero impact on the state of gas prices. These are two very simple conclusions that most American will not hear, and even if they do, they simply can't comprehend. In their minds, American oil = no oil from bad terrorists = lower prices = fire up the SUV!

This is the lowest form of political pandering. There's no question that John McCain knows this, yet he realizes that this could be his path to the White House. In the past two elections such tactics worked, and look at the consequences. In less than three months, the public will be tested once again. We can only hope that this record will stop skipping.