Political Malpractice

Rachel Maddow of Air America and MSNBC has it right: "political malpractice." In a week in which the major economic news arguably is the report of record profits of Exxon-Mobil, Barack Obama should pound on the profits obscenely made by oil companies at the expense of the American consumer. Instead, the Illinois Senator, perhaps fearful of the kind of 527 attack that helped inspire his cowardly vote in favor of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, chose this week to state

If, in order to get that passed (i.e., "comprehensive energy policy"), we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage- I don't want to be so rigid that we can't get something done.

Some will call that pragmatic, realistic, a move to the center. But once the Repub hit machine gets hold of it, it will be seen as classic liberal "nuance"- weak, vacillating, and timid. In fact, instead of praising Obama's moderation and reasonableness, John McCain pounced, responding "We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore. He has consistently opposed it. He has opposed nuclear power. He has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage."

The American people are looking for a strong, aggressive response to the energy issue. John McCain, thoughtlessly and in apparent ignorance of the facts, has provided it; Barack Obama, ever reflective and striving to transcend traditional political arguments, has not. And he has failed despite having the perfect opportunity this past week to demonstrate that he is on the side of the American consumer against powerful economic interests.