Pretty soon, all the attention will be on the final 75 or so days until Election Day.
I certainly have a lot of ammunition to fire at Saint Obama, but I also am having a tough time supporting John McCain.
If he pulls another stunt that ignores his conservative base and instead shamelessly panders for the independents and left-of-center Democrats not in love with Barack, maybe I and a lot of other conservatives will sit out this election (at least at the presidential level).
Barack, Harry and Queen Nancy will run the country disastrously and wake people up when their incompetence is revealed. That will give us four years to come up with a conservative candidate with a backbone, along with other conservative congressional candidates to take back both houses.
But, focusing on the congressional races, the Republicans have been served a golden opportunity through the actions of the Dems' exalted leader, the power-hungry, incompetent, autocratic and ineffective leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
In addition to leading Congress to a historically low approval rating of 9 percent, she has now closed down the House, showing total disdain for the average American who is struggling to make ends meet because of to the current energy crisis.
If voters, other than those in Pelosi's congressional district, could express their approval of Nancy and only Nancy, I guarantee her approval rating would be even less than 9 percent.
All the Republicans wanted to do was introduce the American Energy Act and have a public up-or-down vote in the house.
The legislation simply called for the development of domestic energy resources (making us more independent from Saudi princes, terrorists and despots and creating good-paying jobs for Americans) and using this oil resource as a bridge to the development of efficient alternative energy sources.
That's it. Very simple. Yes or no, up or down. Don't you think the voters should know where their respective representatives stand on the issue? Seventy-five percent of Americans want domestic oil sources to be tapped, 71 percent are in favor of off-shore sources and 54 percent favor drilling in the ANWR region. What are the Dems afraid of if they are confident of their stance?
Queen Nancy and her minions, however, ignored the polls and voters' wishes and simply closed up shop and went on a five-week vacation. I seem to remember her promising change by stating "Democrats are offering a new direction, putting the common good of all Americans first for a change, and will make health care more affordable, lower gas prices, help working families, cut college costs, ensure dignified retirement _ and do it all in a fiscally sound way."
At the time, gasoline was selling for $2.32 per gallon. How does going on her book tour, which by the way is another dismal failure, help solve the problems facing us ordinary Americans? Especially since after coming back tanned and fit and spending only three weeks in session, they will adjourn again and focus on the elections. How do you define hypocrisy?
If the Republicans can't take this issue and run with it aggressively during their campaigns, they shouldn't be elected to office anyway.
The Democrats are in a pickle, also. If they change their minds and vote for the energy issue, it reveals their hypocrisy by proving they are only interested in votes rather than standing up for what the voter wants.
This is happening already, as Nancy has given her regal OK to those Dems up for tough re-election bids this year to not vote their consciences but rather vote for political expediency.
If, on the other hand, those Dems allow themselves to be led by the nose and stay in lockstep with Her Majesty, the always-shocked-looking, unblinking Pelosi, they are going to have a lot of explaining to do when they get home to their constituencies.
Either way, this race will be fun to watch. I think if events continue down this path, the Republicans have a chance to pick up seats in both houses. It might be wishful thinking at this point, however.
We Republicans are now on the right side of most, if not all, of the issues important to Americans. These are energy relief, lower taxes and national security.
It should be very difficult to blow the elections with this fact in mind. McCain should also win if he re-attracts the conservative base. After all, he is running against a candidate with no experience, an energy plan based on inflating our tires (remind you of Carter?) and only vacuous rhetoric.
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Tom Sears is a professor of accounting at Hartwick College in Oneonta. He can be reached at SearsT@hartwick.edu. His column appears every other week.
