On Actually Governing (Drill Baby Drill!)

Look, I'm no fan of offshore drilling. But I'm amazed at how many smart people don't understand the strategy revealed this morning.

First, let's be clear, Obama never claimed (as far as I can recall) that offshore drilling was an evil to be avoided at all costs. His primary response to the "Drill Baby Drill" refrain from the election was that drilling was "only part of a comprehensive solution for energy independence." Anyone thinking seriously about policy for transitioning to sustainable green domestic energy knows that increased drilling and increased use of nuclear power, as unpopuluar as they are, are indispensible early steps in that transition. What distinguishes serious policy advocates from sloganeers like Palin is their ability to think beyond more drilling to the actual long term solutions. But this isn't my point.

My point is best illustrated by referencing the argument as forulated Yglesias (normally the smartest guy on the internet):

I don’t understand this at all. Increased coastal drilling would be a small price to pay in exchange for actual congressional votes for an overall energy package that shifts us to a low-carbon economy over time. But any price is too high a price to pay in exchange for nothing at all. This isn’t the greatest environmental crime in human history, but it sure does seem like poor legislative strategy.

True. This would be a poor legislative strategy. But as a political strategy, it's a revolutionary application of the same political jujitsu that shocked the Clinton camp with the greatest political upset in half a century. By pre-emptively implementing precisely the policies that the GOP have historically demanded (modulated slightly by reasonable environmental concerns), Obama has created an opportunity for the Democrats to recast themselves as the only adults in Washington.

The American people want results. If the Democrats in Congress can come together a few more times in support of Obama's effort to solve real problems with a healthy mixture of Progressive values, reasonable compromises and common-sense solutions, then November will be nothing to fear. He's already pushed major legislation through during a election year--which Conventional Wisdom took to be impossible--and he seems on track to do it a few more times. His largest obstacle has been the fact that Congressional Democrats are too thoroughly driven by the outdated Groupthink of the Beltway pundocracy to follow through on the gamble.