Until now rising gasoline prices have been an issue in this election that has worked viscerally in the Democrats' favor. An ordinary American may not even know what FISA is, have strong feelings about Iraq or even sympathize with people burdened with variable rate mortgages, but will nonetheless be brought face to face with where our country is these days when he or she pulls into a filling station and watches the numbers on the side of the pump race towards $40 or $50.
Obviously, the McCain campaign has embarked on a gambit to reverse this, recognizing that unless they do they may face annihilation come November. Hence, the proposal to open the coasts to drilling, and with it the effort to convince Americans that if this is done all will be right with America's energy world.
Should we cave on this? For various reasons I explain below, I say no. But simultaneously, government should have more to offer working Americans suffering the effects of higher gas prices than the famous advice from the Book of Job--"Curse God and die."