Ace of Spades HQ

August 16, 2008

McCain May Change Position on ANWR (!)
— Ace

May, but this is certainly an interesting shift. Previously he has sworn he would never even think of drilling in the beautiful pristine wasteland that is aesthetically indistinguishable from the Grand Canyon.

In an interview with THE WEEKLY STANDARD aboard his campaign plane last week, McCain made clear he has not ruled out a change in his positionto one that endorses drilling in ANWR. I continue to examine it, he said. So does his staff. McCains campaign has been quietly studying the ANWR issue and discussing the potential consequencesgood and badof a policy change.
But in our conversation on August 13, McCain added a new wrinkle. When I asked him if he had consulted Palin about ANWR, he said that he had not yet done so. He added, I probably should, he said. I will.
So I called Palin to ask what McCain can expect to hear. The answer is that Palin, who has been mentioned as a possible McCain running mate but has not been vetted, will make a straightforward case for drilling in ANWR. She says McCains willingness to take another look at ANWR is very encouraging.
...
She added: "And I know up here in Alaska, most every Alaskan believes that ANWR should be drilled, and no one cares more about Alaska's environment--our lands, our wildlife, our fresh air, our clean water--than Alaskans themselves. And we know that this can be allowed safely, cleanly, ethically--this type of exploration and development of an American supply of energy."
That last point could be significant. When McCain changed his position on offshore drilling earlier this summer, he did so on federalist grounds. If states believe that drilling can be safely done off their shores, and choose to allow it, he argued, the federal government should no longer stand in their way. He could make the same argument on ANWR.
"I'll convince him," the hot MILF in glasses vowed. "I can be very persuasive," she purred.

Maybe he wants to win the election or something.

This is a cheap way to get conservatives finally excited about a McCain presidency. The Maverick has alienated many of us on a large number of issues, and it's difficult for him to reverse himself on them. On this issue, there's a powerful change in circumstance that makes this a "flip-flop" which really isn't.

By taking a position that's popular and good policy to boot, McCain has an almost consequence-free option for winning conservatives over to his side (rather than merely being opposed to Obama).

It might also reassure some of us that he is open to argument and new ideas, and doesn't merely cling to his past positions -- despite their being wrong, or at least rendered obsolete by changing events -- out of a vanity he mistakes for "integrity."

This change of position would make his policies more consistent, not less. It's hard to argue that the current oil crunch is such a dire threat to our economy that we must drill in the ocean... but not the permafrost wasteland of of the Arctic hellplains. And it makes little sense for McCain to warn us of the great threat of a revanchist Russia, and how we must drill for our own oil to keep money out of the pockets of "countries that don't like us very much"... so long as doing so does not cause any distress to a caribou who might find a pipeline aesthetically displeasing.

Related: Ten Republican Senators send letter to Bush urging him to begin, on his own authority, high-tech seismological surveys of ANWR's true reserves.

No such survey has been done since 1983, allowing Democrats to continue lying about the amount of oil likely available in ANWR.

Posted by: Ace at 10:41 AM | Comments (44)
Post contains 632 words, total size 4 kb.

1 Well, the thing is, people hear "wildlife refuge" and think some beautiful park somewhere. It's a wasteland, a huge section of tundra that I suspect was ruled off limits specifically because it probably had oil in it (sort of like President Clinton's "lets mark this area of mineral rich Utah as parks" trick.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at August 16, 2008 10:53 AM (0+Ggj)

2 Election or no election it simply makes sense to re-examine the cost/benefit ratio at this time.

Things change. Selling and viewing everything as 'politics' is by far the greatest reason why public policy tens to SUCK. To wit the godawful Ethanol subsidy funded by the morally bankrupt Federal Government. If public good was at all considered this any most other farm subsidies would be throw under the nearest oncoming bus.

What you didn't want to do at $80.00, you might well find to be necessary at $120.00. As far as I am concerned there seems no VIABLE objections to drilling in Anwar given the vastly improved industry environmental performance in the past decade. I think Mccain was wrong on this to start with but it is encouraging that he is at least interested in reviewing the data.

Without consulting a tire gauge beforehand.

Posted by: dougf at August 16, 2008 10:58 AM (16GPT)

3 Maybe he wants to win the election or something.

BINGO! That's it, and about time he went for the obvious win. It works for him 3 ways.

1. McVain gets to build momentum on the support for the Republican House holdouts. Pelosi and the Dhimmicrats really screwed the pooch on that one. (Poor abused pooch....

)
2. After The Obamessiah flubbed his MAcBeth riff ("Is this a tire guage I see before me?") it beclame clear that millions of Americans were NOT going to turn their cars into sail carts. Time to give the public an issue they can support 100%.
3. Speaking of issues that ought to be supported 100%, McVain's best issue, the GWOT, is getting swept under the rug by The Obamessiah's groupies. We're winning the war, so it's not an issue anymore. Whatever. Fine, on to the domestic agenda, then....
4. Russia, complete with shoe bangin' Putin (thanks Jim Borgman

), proved just how stupid reliance on foreign energy resource production can be. Promoting ANWR drilling reminds American voters that we don't have to take shit from Russia, Iran, the Saudis, or anyone else.

Now as long as we can get McVain to accept Romney or Thompson as a VP, we're headed in the right direction. Maybe the Democrats can burn down Denver or something and make it a shoo-in.

Posted by: exdem13 at August 16, 2008 11:01 AM (fenBi)

4
>McCain May Change Position on ANWR (!)

O'RLY? I May Change my Position on McCAIN(!)

c'mon Jhonny Mac! Be that hole drillin', fence building Pol we all want you to be. Reach deep, buddy, you can do it! It's hard at first but it gets easier. Courage!

Posted by: electricferret at August 16, 2008 11:01 AM (kKO7A)

McCain / Lieberman: Fuck Y'all

-------------------------------------------------

The last six weeks of the campaign would be great:

Lieberman tee-ing off on Obama ... the Democratic Veep candidate rendered irrelevant. McCain taking the High Road as Obama tries to return fire.

Two Senators with a combined 40+ years of experience taking aim at a guy with 150 days of experience ...

...

c'mon ace ... in your heart of hearts you know you'd vote for John.

Posted by: BumperStickerist at August 16, 2008 11:06 AM (NnAGL)

6 I want to believe. This is an awesome opportunity for McCain and the Republicans to keep arm-twisting the Dims till their shoulders pop out of their sockets. ANWR should be opened. Those retarded coal restrictions by Clinton should be overturned. Shale oil, tar sands, any and all offshore oil, nukes - bring it on! It's a 5 star winner in job creation, the economy, and national security. Hey, McCain could even quote one of the Dims favorite political philosophers on this one "Let a Hundred Flowers bloom!"

Posted by: rinseandspit at August 16, 2008 11:19 AM (VFTrh)

7 exdem13, why thompson? He's kinda like Obama. Very much about what he looks like, but rather inexperienced. I like the guy, think his humor is great, and sure, I prefer him to anyone the dems are going to select, but he's just good at looking presidential.

Romney would be a great choice, though who knows what the GOP would do with him. Republicans are almost as dumb as democrats, after all. I worry that the intolerant among the GOP would provide cover for the intolerance the dems are displaying. And Romney is very, very much a flip floppy kinda guy (not that I blame him in Massachusetts, but he has to live with his record). Romney's ideas have proven to be great ones, but with Obama, a symbol of intolerance and flip flopping, I wonder if Romney brings too much baggage (not really his fault) that would keep us from effectively laughing Obama off the stage.

Oh well, I'm sure I'll wish we had Romney when Mccain picks Lieberman or Lindsey Graham.

Carli, that HP CEO, if she's well vetted, ought to be a pretty good choice. I would love to see someone who is completely outside the beltway, and has a lot of intelligence on economic issues. A real woman who earned her way up as opposed to marrying Bill Clinton would send a great message to all those soccer moms out there.

Posted by: ghy at August 16, 2008 11:20 AM (8jYMc)

8 "McCain May Change Position on ANWR"

Please let it be so..I 'm getting tired of being bent over to expose my squeekhole.

Posted by: Consumer at August 16, 2008 11:40 AM (cEE8N)

9 the beautiful pristine wasteland that is aesthetically indistinguishable from the Grand Canyon.

The small area in ANWR that they want to drill, looks like crap. A few honest donks have even admitted it looks like crap. That's of course, the few months of the year when there is even sunlight. The rest of the year, it's pitch dark and you're stumbling over refuse left behind by all the environmentalists. Very few people can even afford to visit the place. It makes me sick that we spend so much money putting aside these places that only government workers and the rich will ever see. Can't get more elitist than that.

This is a cheap way to get conservatives finally excited about a McCain presidency.

Considering the number of times he has changed his mind on issues and then tried to change back, screw him. I've given up. By next week he will again do something totally boneheaded that no rank and file member supports or even understands. I'm not sure why he doesn't put to rest these democrat running mate and one term rumors. He is either seriousl considering it or it's part of his maverickiness, i.e., being a prick.

I thought that if Obama gets in he could only survive one term. But, since the party now forces candidates down our throats that can't win and most don't trust, I don't see us coming up with a viable candidate in 2012, either.

Posted by: grc at August 16, 2008 11:42 AM (Rfu4W)

10 Far be it from me to tell people how to vote in this election, but for those of you who said "enough, no more!" when McCain said "we can't drill in ANWR" having him change his mind on this might be reasonable.

But if you weren't planning on voting for him in the first place, then got more mad when he said that... why would him swapping on this issue make you want to vote for him?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at August 16, 2008 11:54 AM (0+Ggj)

11 McCain simply has to change on ANWR. We see the Middle Eastern Wars and now this Proxy Petrol War in Russia. Oil Indenpendence is a matter of National Security. I wouldn't even snipe if Obama changed on ANWR. Has to be done.

Posted by: Aaron at August 16, 2008 11:55 AM (C94Qb)

12 I guess it's a good thing he's flipping our direction. It seems all Obama's flip-flops were away from the lefties. Let's hope he means it.

Posted by: runninrebel at August 16, 2008 12:03 PM (qAMnO)

13 Drill in ANWR????? But... But... that may make the polar bears and penguins and other cute little furry critters that live there so-o-o-o-o sad.

Posted by: Reiver at August 16, 2008 12:05 PM (s7h/P)

14 Not that the Alaska vote matters much (we only have 3 electoral votes)... but if McCain changes his position on ANWR, he would finally get Alaskan conservatives interested in his campaign.

Posted by: 8starsnorth at August 16, 2008 12:05 PM (LRzQZ)

15 This is a cheap way to get conservatives finally excited about a McCain presidency.

"excited" is the wrong phrase. "lukewarm tentative tolerance" would be more like it.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at August 16, 2008 12:15 PM (6L459)

16 Maybe he's considering Palin for veep. Getting Palin onboard would provide a perfect pretext for learning for gaining a new understanding of the situation in Alaska, and making a better decision on energy.

Plus, Palin would be a kick-ass candidate.

Okay, this is unlikely. But a fella can dream, can't he?

Posted by: Christoph at August 16, 2008 12:25 PM (hawOV)

"lukewarm tentative tolerance" would be more like it.

Which, at the moment, sounds damn good!

Posted by: MamaAJ at August 16, 2008 12:58 PM (X6Zdh)

18 Well you may not call it a flip flop but McCain surely would, if it was another Republican who had made this switch. He ran a primary decrying flip flopping and "negative" campaigning only to become a champion of both in the general. A flip flop. This issue doesn't need anymore study unless you are a retard. The only reason that part of ANWR is pristine is because it is so God awful that only a few caribou go there and then only infrequently. In the winter, the place is almost completely dark all the time with temperatures about 50 below zero. Yes, it's just like the Grand fricking Canyon. If McCain really can't see the difference between the Grand Canyon and a frozen, barren wasteland, then he is even dumber than I thought. And that is one low bar. I do take exception with the concept that only know is it an imperative that we drill in places that have been off limits. The reason we are so entwined in the middle east is because we have refused to drill on our own territory for years. This isn't in dispute. The cost to this nation in terms of blood and treasure not to mention loss of strategic position because of this absurd belief that somehow the arabs, the Venezuelans, the friggin Norwegians could somehow drill on their lands and in the oceans off their countries without turning them into oil drenched environmental catastrophes but we somehow couldn't is demonstrative not only of how lame this argument has become but how weak our "leadership" in DC is. If McCain now gets props for understanding how strategically important it is for us to be energy independent from our enemies, he gets hammered for decades of stupidity on this issue. Yea, I still think McCain is a putz.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 16, 2008 01:07 PM (iE/Va)

19 McCain can say whatever he wants on ANWR right now to get votes, but does anyone reallythink he'll stick with that for one second after election? No, he'll buckle under to the howling mob of the enviros and their MSM and Democrat henchmen, make some lame excuse for the flip-flop, and we'll have been hoodwinked again.

Posted by: Flubber at August 16, 2008 01:26 PM (gFset)

Will no one think of Michelle's caribou children?

[BTW, you forgot to close the tag for the link after the period of "...she purred." in the quoted section, Ace.]

Posted by: andycanuck at August 16, 2008 01:32 PM (OuMcZ)

21 So, Ace, did you purposely link every paragraph to an attempted upskirt pic of Palin?

Posted by: Alice H at August 16, 2008 01:37 PM (jRtPb)

His ad says he will take on BIG OIL. "Take them on," as a partner, perhaps?

Good on 'im if he does. This is one flip flop that simply MUST happen.

Posted by: adam h at August 16, 2008 02:03 PM (X2xSP)

23 Better late than never, I guess.

Posted by: Bart at August 16, 2008 02:54 PM (SsEnj)

24 I have to laugh at the Republicans in Congress who are staging their "protest" while Congress is out of session.

Why didn't they do anything while they were in control of Congress???

Posted by: Bart at August 16, 2008 03:05 PM (SsEnj)

25 Me, I'm more interesting in drillin' Sara in ANWR, roowwwrrrr.

Posted by: XBradTC at August 16, 2008 03:28 PM (pSXbN)

26 The candidate for Vide President on the Loyal Party ticket (like myself a Loyal-R ) suggests that the greatest problem inhuman viability involves depletion of resources. If one necessary element or compound is gone in 75 years, then what? Die gracefully? The matter begins with a Planetary Reorganization Plan that guarantees national sovereignties within a hemishperic resource management entity working on scale-down. We need to pragmatically and scientifically look at two question unknown to us now 1) how long will it take to get 8 Billions to somewhere else. This gives us our consumption limit (until this is known, work on three provisional timelines 400, 1000, & 2000 years.) 2) What is the inventory of needed resources at this point in time? This is the part that will drive capitalists and corporations nuts as things will need to be stated openly. We are farting around with ideas like global mechanisms and sustainability, when sustainability is trendy wishful thinking. To top this all off, resource depletion is encouraged by capitalism and communism alike. So: bottom line. Scrap the Framework Convention and think up something else.

Posted by: Loyal-R at August 16, 2008 03:41 PM (mqYto)

27 That's what I get for spending my time doing the secretarial and dictatorial jobs at the same time. typos bite.

Posted by: Loyal-R at August 16, 2008 03:50 PM (mqYto)

28 The only candidate was are fielding is for vice president. We are a Lennonesque conceptual party which does not require that 'members" give up their allegiance to any particular party. We don't have an office in Washington, nor are we raising funds. Personally, the only person I've ever met from Washington, aside from once meeting Senator Lugar was a girl with whom I danced to Dixie Chicken

Posted by: Loyal-R at August 16, 2008 04:07 PM (mqYto)

A week ago, I wrote here that McCain was moving to the right for the general, a move rare if not unique for a Republican. His unambiguous position on Georgia was as welcome as it was immediate, and clearly not a result of polls or calculation.

So too was his support for offshore drilling, even if filtered through Federalism. The floated names of Lieberman and Ridge notwithstanding, most of McCain’s moves have been to the right as he moves up, in the third turn, to tie the race.

Could it be that conservative positions could be embraced and not feared?

Don’t study too long John, it was your decisive and timely statements on Georgia and drilling that was as compelling as the policy. You will win more votes on these two issues than everything else that you do.

And it was Reagan who, time after time, would defy campaign officials, polls and advisors to state clearly what he favored, and why. He spoke from the gut, like you did on Georgia, and was rewarded for it.

Do not fear the media reaction or the debates: it was the Reagan Democrats who best understood the sharp contrast Reagan drew between himself and Carter.

So too it will be if you go up against Obama - with his tire gauge and oil company taxes - with the jobs to be created in Alaska, and those restored to Michigan and Ohio from the resulting lower gas price.

Posted by: Robert at August 16, 2008 04:09 PM (Rb4Qc)

30 I will no more drill in ANWR than I would drill my own white grandmother.

Posted by: John Sidney McCain at August 16, 2008 04:37 PM (fLQRL)

31 The only two things that could possibly make McCain exciting are drilling and Palin.

Posted by: Heike at August 16, 2008 04:43 PM (+WuMm)

The only two things that could possibly make McCain exciting are drilling and Palin.

And a fence on the border.

Posted by: Muskwa at August 16, 2008 05:03 PM (KXN1A)

33 The economy-wrecking "Cap 'n Trade" scheme he's so hellbent in implementing would make this flip-flop moot. How much more oil will the evil domestic oil companies--the very ones that he'll be "taking on"--produce with the federal govenment's boot on their necks?

Not buying it. Sorry.

Posted by: Herr Bl�cher at August 16, 2008 05:09 PM (/hde8)

34 Sorry, but the American Way of Life is over. Haven't you guys been out in the out there? The problem isn't with people falling through the cracks. There's barely a floor for most. We need to reconceptualize Americanism and the reasons people do what they do. It basically comes down to having that insight into what life is FOR. Without insight into ourselves, it will be the same dull round until we finally get-- by which time we will have had incredibly violent wars for ever-dwindling resources. Course corrections and changes in kind leave us doomed to a futilely violent future. STATUS QUO VETOED.

Posted by: Reconciliationist at August 16, 2008 05:32 PM (mqYto)

35 Mrs. Palin would be a bold choice for running mate. Which means McCain wouldn't choose her in a million years.
Hope I'm wrong.

Posted by: aubrey at August 16, 2008 06:22 PM (P96YG)

36 ghy: To be honest, I was for Thompson back when he was a contender, announced & unannounced. Go back and read some of his positions, he is Conservative and Republican enough for the party in general. And unlike The Obamessiah, Thompson has kept his feet on the ground about the issues he came off a little negative at time, but that was OK to me. It's OK to me to say "we have a problem", and then "we can fix it". Unfortunately the MSM never gave Thompson enough time to dvelop his positions for us, and we got McVain instead. NO, I have not forgotten the Donks and their MSM allies for "gviing" us McCain, nor am I inclined to forgive them yet.

Aaron: When you look at the issue, it becomes pretty clear, doesn't it?

JackStraw: It's OK to be skeptical, but give the man a little room to run, alright? If he is trying to take our side, let him do it a bit first without the automatic negativity. Given the alternative is a dolt who who will solve our energy crisis with a tire guage, let's encourage McVain to see things our way now? He could, like, even get elected for doing that.

Reconcilliationist: Sorry, dude, but I'm still living the American Way of Life, I don't want it to end, and I resent the hell out of any politician who tells me I have to let it go. If you are too scared and too dispirited to to do what needs to be done to keep real progress happening, go walk in front of an oil tanker truck and spare us all more of your spineless loser whining.

For the record, I do NOT consider returning to the pre-Industrial Age level of societal development to be real progress. Letting 70% of our population die so the remaining 30% can get by on subsistence "organic" agriculture, have no electricity, running water, or modern medicines, and BURN WOOD for fuel is pathetic. Technological civilizaiton has been the creator of our current level of life, and technological civiliation is what will keep it there, or improve it. End of story.

Posted by: exdem13 at August 16, 2008 08:10 PM (fenBi)

37 Reconciliationist,

Well now that is a bunch of horse shit of the first order.
You have left your nonsense for others to read.
The fucking shame of it.

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