Politics has its puzzling moments. John McCain and most of the GOP
experienced one late last week. That was when five of their own set
about dismantling the best issue Republicans have in the upcoming
election.
It's taken time, but Sen. McCain and his party have finally found -- in
energy -- an issue that's working for them. Riding voter discontent
over high gas prices, the GOP has made antidrilling Democrats this
summer's headlines.
Their enthusiasm has given conservative candidates a boost in tough
races. And Mr. McCain has pressured Barack Obama into an energy debate,
where the Democrat has struggled to explain shifting and confused
policy proposals.
Still, it was probably too much to assume every Republican would work
out that their side was winning this issue. And so, last Friday, in
stumbled Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker
and Johnny Isakson -- alongside five Senate Democrats. This "Gang of
10" announced a "sweeping" and "bipartisan" energy plan to break
Washington's energy "stalemate." What they did was throw every
vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver.
That's because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on
offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only
four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars
drilling within 50 miles of the coast -- putting off limits some of the
most productive areas. Alaska's oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge is still a no-go.
The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and
federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10
intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil
companies! The Sierra Club couldn't have penned it better. And so the
Republican Five has potentially given antidrilling Democrats the
political cover they need to neutralize energy through November.
Sen. Obama was thrilled. He quickly praised the Gang's bipartisan
spirit, and warmed up to a possible compromise. Of course, he means
removing even the token drilling provisions now in the bill. But he's
only too happy for the focus to remain on the Gang's efforts, and in
particular on the five Republicans providing his party its fig leaf.
Equally gleeful was Louisiana's Mary Landrieu, the Senate's most
vulnerable Democrat. She had been sweating the energy debate,
especially after her vote against more oil-shale production -- a
position her Republican opponent, John Kennedy, had used against her to
great effect. Yet there she was, chummily standing with the Gang of 10
and boasting that she is working with "five Republicans" to "lower
prices at the pump by increasing offshore drilling here at home."
Mr. McCain, who had been commanding the energy debate, was left to
explain why he, of all people, wasn't more enthusiastic about a
"bipartisan" effort on energy, especially one that includes "drilling."
His camp was forced to take refuge in taxes, explaining that their boss
couldn't sign up for a bill that included more. If this is what Mr.
McCain's good friend Lindsey Graham considers "helping," somebody might
want to ask him to stop.
And pity poor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been
working overtime to stanch GOP losses this fall and head off a
filibuster-proof Democratic Senate. His dogged efforts to highlight
Democratic opposition to drilling has kept energy in the news and laid
the groundwork for GOP candidates to use the issue to their advantage.
In the Colorado Senate race, Democrats had christened former GOP Rep.
Bob Schaffer "Big Oil Bob" -- hoping to smear his oil industry career.
"Big Oil Bob" has instead embraced his pro-drilling positions and is
pummeling opponent Mark Udall for his antidrilling stance. In recent
weeks, Mr. Schaffer has erased Mr. Udall's lead. Polls show Republican
Sens. Norm Coleman (Minnesota) and John Sununu (New Hampshire) both
climbing in the polls on the back of strong energy arguments. As two of
the GOP's most vulnerable senators, both might well have run for cover
with the Gang of 10. Instead they're fighting on the merits.
The "bipartisan" Republican senators have undercut these efforts, and
boosted Ms. Landrieu. They've even put a smile on Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid's face. He'd been struggling to tamp down the energy
debate through November, where he hopes to increase his majority and
permanently shelve drilling. He's now counting on the Gang to
fruitlessly continue "negotiations" straight through the Senate's short
September session and solve his problem for him.
Not one of the five Republicans in the Gang is facing a tough election
this year. That's the sort of security that leads to bad decisions. And
theirs is the sort of thinking that could leave Republicans in a
permanent minority.
