McCain At Sturgis

Yahoo News has an article that covers McCain's visit to Sturgis in SD. Saying that he got 'an approving roar' in the heartland. I think this is the silly season in the extreme- we haven't had the conventions yet and we don't know who the running mates are and so yeah, I think we're going to see some ups and downs for the Obama Campaign and for the McCain Campaign- they've both had their share of crappy weeks this summer and I think this one is no exception.

Lefties need to take a deep breath though: McCain was in South Dakota. Hardly the candidate for an important swing state and in fact, I'm willing to bet that the Democrats don't exactly carry a lot of bench strength there. But lefties also need to beware- Obama's shift on offshore oil means (and yes, I'd call it a shift. McCain also has a mixed voting record on offshore oil) that he too has realized that this election is about gas. The 'where's the beano?' election, so to speak. The economy is in the crapper, times are hard and the most visible sign of economic hardship is the price of gas. Let me repeat this again: whomever has the fastest plan to cheaper gas wins this election. I'd put money on it.

But the Left is blowing the play (at least until Obama's willingness to shift a bit on offshore oil) and Nancy Pelosi ain't helping much. She's holding firm on not having a vote on lifting the offshore drilling moratorium (but she's also telling her rank and file to vote for it if they don't want too.) But there's the flip side to the equation: the strength of the dollar. Make the dollar stronger and the price should go down some. I'm floating that notion on the back of a very weak knowledge of economics, mind you, so if that's wildly wrong, call me on it, ok? But it seems to make sense to me- the dollar is weak. Gas prices high. Make dollar stronger what effect does that have on gas prices? And if it does have an effect, why isn't the Left tacking to that side of the equation? Their insistent on holding to the environmental side of the argument won't win them the argument. The cold hard truth about it is that people want the environment protected, but they don't want to pay at the pump for it. Not when they're working crap middle class jobs and struggling to get by.

Change the debate. And do it fast, because this is worrying me. Obama is taking some hits in the polls and needs to break out fast. The right VP choice could do that, but if they can't shift the tone on oil, then it could be the wedge McCain needs to tighten the race and take the White House.