Republicans have their backs against the wall, facing a bloodbath on
Election Day that will leave the party in shambles and the nation in
the hands of the worst conglomeration of demagogues, scoundrels and
loony leftists ever put together in our nation's history.
When you're fighting for your life, you have two choices: whimper about
your plight while the other side cuts you to pieces, or fight as if
your life depends on it, which of course it does.
Dark as the outlook for survival may seem, there is a ray of light that
if taken advantage of can not only save the GOP, but turn it into a
rout of the Democrats that could make Election Day a victory
celebration for the Republicans instead of a mournful wake.
The Democrats, who have long shown a shocking talent for snatching
defeat from the jaws of near certain victory, are now trying mightily
to commit political suicide, yet the majority of elected Republicans
are either too blind to see a golden opportunity handed to them on a
silver platter, or too stupid to take advantage of it.
Think about it, the vast majority of Americans -- almost 80 percent of
them -- are angry and demanding that Congress allow drilling for oil
here in the mainland United States, offshore and in Alaska, and the
Democrats are thumbing their nose at them and adamantly refusing to
lift the ban on drilling.
Their leadership is so committed to preventing the commonsense,
long-term solution to the energy crises that they not only refuse to
allow a vote on the measure, but skip town without addressing the
crisis, with the speaker of the house gadding off to Florida and
elsewhere to sell her worst-selling book (a pitiful 2700 or so copies
sold thus far, according to Matt Drudge) while her fellow Americans
groan under the burden of $4.00 a gallon gasoline.
Her motto isn't Marie Antoinette's "let them eat cake" -- it's more
like let the people buy my book and keep shelling out $4 a gallon for
gas.
That's a gift from the gods, a life-saving issue that puts the
pro-drilling Republicans on the right side of the year's hottest
political controversy, and provides them with a weapon they can use to
draw the majority of voters to their side and save the party from an
impending electoral disaster. Pushed to the limit, it can make Election
Day 2008 a banner day in the party's history.
That was obvious to me the minute I saw which way the wind was blowing.
Here was the issue that puts the GOP solidly in league with the
American people. When I talked with Texas Congressman John Carter on
the phone I told him the media was not going to present the GOP's
position on the matter, so the Republicans had to do the job themselves
in a way the media could not ignore. They had to dramatize their stand.
I told Rep. Carter that with the Democrats fleeing town in droves the
Republicans in both houses needed to get back to the Hill and by their
presence there in the empty House and Senate chambers demonstrate the
Democrats' shameful refusal to respond the demands of the American
people,
I said they should demand that the vacationing Democrats come back now
and respond to the people's wishes for a solution. I also said that the
president needed to call the Democrats' back to deal with the crisis.
I added that the media would have to cover the event, thus dramatizing
the Democrats' flight from Washington in the middle of a crisis facing
every American. He agreed with me and went to the leadership and they
agreed, and the resulting GOP response is getting the media's
begrudging attention.
It's not enough, however. This needs to be a party-wide strategy. The
entire Republican House membership and all their Senate Republican
colleagues need to be on the Hill now, making the case for Congress to
reconvene now as loud as they can. And the president needs to call the
Congress back into session and demand that the Democrats act to put an
end to the crisis now.
This is a golden opportunity, and if the GOP fails to take full
advantage of it they will deserve it if the voters go with Democrats in
November. The American people are with the Republicans on the most
important issue of our time.
The question is, are the Republicans on their side and willing to lead
them in the fight to use all the oil resources the Lord has given us in
such great abundance and which now are untapped beneath our feet
because the Democrats won't allow us to drill down to get it.
Republicans can unite to fight and win. Or they can do what they seem to do best these days, cringe and surrender.
