John McCain had been having a tough time coming up with a
credible domestic policy agenda. Given his druthers, he would
prefer to talk about Iraq and national security 24/7. But even with
growing recognition of the surge’s success in Iraq, McCain would be
foolhardy to cede domestic issues to Barack Obama.
Voters, according to polls, overwhelmingly rank domestic issues
higher than national security. With a faltering economy, soaring
gas prices, a housing crisis and middle class qualms about rising
health care and college costs, McCain is unlikely to win over the
key swing voters unless he starts talking about bread-and-butter
issues, no matter how improved the situation in Iraq.
Republicans began to fret that McCain lacked the interest or
ability to do just that. Would he adopt a reform agenda? Could he
“repackage” his economic plan? Conservative pundits and talk-show
hosts buzzed with criticism and suggestions.
But then something surprising happened. McCain might have caught
a break, or to be generous, created his own break. The skyrocketing
price of gasoline has become a major campaign issue. In the
primary, Obama could dispense with Hillary Clinton’s gas holiday
issue with the back of his hand and talk about his multibillion
dollar plan to invest in new energy technologies. That was more
than enough to satisfy the liberal Democratic base.
But in a general election with gas prices now well over $4 a
gallon the public is demanding more. McCain, not known for his
creative policy development, saw an opening. He made the most of a
grab-bag of energy production ideas: offshore drilling, expanding
natural gas exploration, nuclear power and even a prize for
developing an electric car. He tossed in some conservation measures
and added a promise to investigate price speculation. And, voila,
he had some answers for very upset voters.
McCain does not suffer for lack of ideas. For starters he wants
to boost domestic energy development and production. He would lift
the current federal moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental
Shelf. And he wants to go after the estimated 77 trillion cubic
feet of recoverable natural gas.
He’s also looking to boost private sector development of new
cars: a $5,000 tax credit for customers who buy a zero carbon
emission car and a $300 million prize for the development of a
battery package “that has the size, capacity, cost and power to
leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric
cars.” He is also willing to put money into science, research and
development of so-called clean coal and to build 45 new nuclear
power plants by 2030 (with an ultimate goal of 100 new plants).
On the tax side he is looking to make permanent a tax credit
equal to 10 percent of wages spent on R&D. And perhaps the best
news for fiscal conservatives is what he opposes: a windfall oil
profits tax, which he correctly notes “will ultimately result in
increasing our dependence on foreign oil and hinder investment in
domestic exploration,” as it did under Jimmy Carter.
He does give a nod to conservation without hounding Americans to
turn up their thermostats. He will require government to get its
own house in order, with higher efficiency standards for new
buildings leased or purchased or retrofitting existing
buildings.
He gave it all a snappy name, the Lexington project, and stayed
on message at a number of town halls, in interviews, and with TV
and online ads. Aside from Iraq, McCain had never shown so much
interest or so much discipline on an issue.
Furthermore, McCain’s heretofore anemic communications team also
focused on Obama’s responses to the gas price hikes — a muffed
comment that it would have been better for prices to rise more
slowly and a lot of “no thanks” retorts to McCain’s ideas. The
McCain team then came up with a slick moniker for Obama: Dr.
No.
And, to everyone’s surprise, most especially critical
Republicans, McCain had a viable and compelling message (both
positive and negative) on an issue voters really cared about. Could
the Agent of Change be transformed into Dr. No? Could McCain
actually appear to be the more innovative problem-solver of the
two? If McCain could feel voters’ pain at the gas pump, he might
take a big step toward dispelling the Obama dig that he is a
one-trick (national security) pony.
Public polling indicates McCain may have caught a wave.
Significant majorities now favor increased domestic oil production
including offshore drilling. When Obama doubled-down on Tuesday,
declaring that he wouldn’t be joining the ranks of nervous
Democrats now considering offshore oil development, the McCain team
no doubt smiled broadly.
The challenge for McCain will be to sustain his energy message
and, if he is wise, learn a broader lesson: voters really do want
solutions, both long and short term to what ails them. McCain has
showed an ability to do what most observers heretofore thought was
not possible: come up with realistic-sounding solutions to
Americans top concerns and drive his message home. If he can do
this on issues other than energy, he may lose his reputation for
indifference to domestic policy and make real headway with
independent voters. That, in an election filled with constant
surprises, might be one of the biggest yet.
