Democrats need a better message than ‘Putin gas boost’ to defeat GOP lies

The The house was voted overwhelmingly with more than 400 votes Executive Order of President Biden bans imports of Russian oil and gas, but that won’t stop Republicans Blame Biden because the price of gasoline increased. Whatever gains Biden may have made in his approval rating are likely to drop if the gas hits five or six dollars a gallon. History shows the fortunes of presidents up and down according to what the clock tells the pump.

Democrats need answers to what has come. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said Biden’s decision to cut the Keystone pipeline cost 800,000 barrels of oil, more than 600,000 barrels came from Russia. But Keystone doesn’t work. The former president made a fuss about getting permits, but he didn’t build the pipeline. So this is 800,000 barrels in the imagination.

“Drill Baby Drill” is GOP’s battle with Sarah Palin launches slogan during her 2008 debate with then-Vice President Biden. Republicans are pushing the same outdated policy to confront today’s energy crisis, and it won’t work. You can’t find a way out of a war on nuclear energy when global markets control the flow of oil, but you can blame Russian President Putin for waging war like a barbarian and earning money. more money at our cost. pay for our freedom.

“Putin’s tax increase” sounds good, but where will it take Democrats in their message against GOP abuse? That’s the question we posed to James Carville, the legendary Democratic strategist and strike dog. “Farther than you, definitely better than never,” he said. “But you are on a much better side when it comes to roads and jobs. Politics is manageable. High. ”

Emphasis on an answer that would warrant a high position like his 1992 slogan, “It’s the economy, it’s stupid. And don’t forget about health care,” he said. “We are basically at war. High prices are affecting everyone, but what are the alternatives? Not every problem in politics has an answer, but some answers are better than others. Don’t just look at your gas meter, look at everything else going on around you.”

With Democrats urge White House to deliver a unified message Carville suggests going on the offensive against the Republican Party as the “Radical MAGA Party,” but in the midst of “an extremely serious foreign policy crisis,” he will not give up any Any sparkling offers. “I think my answer is when you can see a problem, switch to a more favorable pitch. Provide a bit of ground and attack in a different location. Yes, gas prices are high, we are solving that problem.”

Republicans false claims that Biden’s unfriendly policies toward the fossil fuel industry have hampered fuel production. “That’s completely untrue, they have more than 9,000 approved permits and 13 million acres of federal land,” said Jenny Rowland-Shea, deputy director of Public Lands at the Center for American Progress. state. “Oil and gas companies are making record profits and they are quite outspoken about not increasing production. When people are paying premiums at the pump, they should step back and consider who benefits. That’s not Biden. They made $75 billion last year in profits. ”

Trying to blame Biden’s domestic policy for this shortfall is a strain given that he only has control over drilling on federal lands, which account for about one or one-and-a-half percent of global production. . The truth is that there are thousands of licenses that oil companies do not have access to because it is not cost effective. They are making their decisions with the expectation that demand for fossil fuels will decrease, so drilling today will not be profitable in the future. Also, this is a NIMBY problem (Not in my backyard). Florida Republicans were the first to oppose their offshore drilling. Trump quickly abandoned drilling plan in 2018 after then-Florida Governor Rick Scott protested.

It’s the no-drilling industry’s choice. The US is currently the largest oil producer in the world and has yet to gain independence because it is a global market and that market is very sensitive to world events, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the crippling sanctions that followed. It is definitely worth reading The Wall Street Journal report that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), had refused to take calls from Biden about increasing the Kingdom’s oil production, and that Biden’s aides had traveled to Venezuela in hopes of losing a oil in this country. If that wasn’t disturbing enough, the Biden team and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm directly appealed to the oil and gas industry to overcome the crisis at hand. “We are in a state of emergency and we must responsibly increase short-term supply where possible right now to stabilize the market and minimize the damage to American homes,” said Granholm. said last week.

Polls show overwhelming support for a ban on Russian oil imports even as the ban raises energy prices with 79% of Americans in a poll (The Wall Street Journal) and 71 percent in other (Quinnnipiac). Republican support is lagging between 77 and 88% of Democrats in the WSJand by a larger margin, 66 to 82 percent in Quinnipiac. However, good intentions are often overlooked, and Biden probably can’t count on those numbers for long. Political messages can only go so far. “The real answer,” said Carville, “demand (at the pump) goes down and supply goes up.” He lives in Louisiana, an oil-producing state, and if the government wants more oil, they may have to guarantee the price and take the risk, or it won’t.

Now, with the war in Ukraine at a critical point, the parties are holding out. Social media reflects Americans’ displeasure at the higher cost of gas compared to the hardships and deaths that innocent civilians are experiencing. Now, Republicans and Democrats are broadly aligned about the threat Russia’s aggression poses to international security. But that will also break. “Ask the Moscow Mitch,” Carville said at a time when pressed about the politics of gas prices, adding, “I don’t think anyone can accuse my party of being soft on Russia.”

Critics have hung the label for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after he led the opposition in January 2019 to enforce sanctions against the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, for “a series of bad activities around the globe”.

Carville considers the Moscow Mitch almost a fringe affair. Now is not the time to remind voters how cozy Republicans have been to Putin and his cronies during the Trump years. That will come after the end of the midterm exam. “Political communication is the only effort you multiply by subtracting. The less you say, the more you will be heard,” he said.

This was one of those times, at least for now.