The American Spectator

Paul Milenkovic br> Madison, Wisconsin /p>

Where to begin? If one segues Mr. Cline’s sure victory advice to the President and the Republicans with Robert Novak’s piece and the letters in response thereto from my fellow readers, there just might be a chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in November.

p>Cline is absolutely right. The energy issue is a no-brainer that any small town political hack like me could ram home to victory. Bush could knock the Dems on their butts if he flew up to the Artic Wilderness frozen tundra, (in a spring time snow storm just to rile Al Gore) and announced a federal energy emergency complete with unfettered drilling in ANWR. He could let American’s see what the environmentalists, the Dems and the MSM don’t want us to see; that ANWR is indeed a frozen, uninhabitable wasteland shrouded in almost perpetual darkness. This reality, in stark contrast to the bucolic fields of summer wildflowers and gamboling reindeer that the MSM loves to misrepresent as ANWAR. Couple this with an immediate suspension of the federal gas tax, until Congress passes a no nonsense comprehensive energy bill, and watch those poll numbers skyrocket as the Dems howl in protest. Of course, this would require the spineless Congressional Republicans to stand firm for once. They might even have to control spending until the gas tax is reimposed. Now wouldn’t that be an additional bonus! And for those Republicans who remain unconvinced, send them all copies of Novak’s article complete with TAS reader’s responses. For the truly hard headed, we might even want to throw in a bonus; a map of downtown D.C. to show them how to get to their next jobs on K Street. Maybe, just maybe, the clueless will become sages. br> — A. DiPentima /p>

Mr. Cline has obviously lost his mind. Suspend a tax on gasoline for six months? Give the beat-up, taxed out, screwed over taxpayer a break? No way, ain’t never gonna happen. Not this century, not ever.

p>Any other suggestions? br> — Mike Webster br> Dallas, Texas