The American Spectator

Political Hay

Why Obama Models Dukakis

By Jeffrey Lord on 7.22.08 @ 12:08AM

"This election isn't about ideology, it's about competence."
-- Michael Dukakis, 1988

"The choice in this election is not between left or right, it's not between liberal or conservative, it's between the past and the future."
-- Barack Obama, 2008

Why? Why do liberals who capture their party's presidential nomination say things like this? Why are they so afraid to say, "I'm an out and out card-carrying liberal and I'm proud of it!" Why do they try and hide their liberalism behind "competence" and screeds about "the past and the future"?

There is a reason. There are lots of reasons, as a matter of fact. Liberalism did not become a laughing stock overnight. It took a while since it began to rule the political roost in 1932 for Americans to understand that what once was considered an honorable philosophy had come to represent repeated and vivid lapses in common sense and good judgment. So the past Senator Barack Obama wants Americans to ignore will do nicely for illustration purposes. It is -- how could it not be? -- a mere update of why then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis tried the same denial routine once he secured the Democrats' nomination in 1988.

What exactly is in the liberal past that makes these people want to run from liberalism when the presidential campaign spotlight goes on? For Dukakis it was furloughed murderer Willie Horton and a disdain for fighting for the Pledge of Allegiance, to name but two liberal ideas that brought Dukakis to his proclamations about competence over ideology. But what is it that drives Obama to say essentially the same thing in 2008? Why would he be concerned that a voting majority would flee modern liberalism -- and his candidacy -- if they understood, as they did twenty years ago, what it was really all about?

Let's look in just one policy area that we are all acutely aware of and use one of America's most famous actors to illustrate precisely why Obama wants to run from liberalism just as Dukakis did in 1988.

Energy is the issue. Leonardo DiCaprio the actor.

How exactly did we get in this place where the cost of energy is doing such damage to Americans? Why are you paying so much for gas at the pump? For running your air conditioner or heating your home? What is the connection between Obama's liberalism and the reality of your life? Here's an example of liberalism at work on five critical energy issues. Our actor friend Leo is involved with the very first one.

* Building refineries: This story is as reported on July 10, 2008 by CNSNews.com senior editor Susan Jones:

Environmental Group Sues to Block Oil Refinery Expansion

(CNSNews.com) -- An environmental group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit intended to stop the expansion of a BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana. A shortage of oil refining capacity is often mentioned as one reason for soaring gasoline prices.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is challenging air permits granted to the refinery by the State of Indiana.

OK. Stop right there. Liberalism alert in Indiana. Here we are in this major energy crisis, which Americans are reminded of every single time they pull up at the gas pump. As this news story correctly says, a shortage of refinery capacity in the United States is one of the culprits in sending the price of gas at the pump skyward. But why do we have a shortage of refinery capacity in the first place? Who, very specifically, is out to stop the expansion of this particular Indiana refinery? Why, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a longtime liberal special-interest environmental group. And who sits on the board of the NRDC? Yes indeed, America's favorite Titanic star, Leonardo DiCaprio himself.

THIS IS BUT ONE REASON why Senator Obama wants to brusquely dismiss the idea that this election is about "liberal or conservative" and re-make it Dukakis-style to something else -- the future versus the past. Were the American people ever to fully understand that it is liberal political philosophy in action that is directly responsible for high gas prices, well, can you say President McCain? But don't think for a moment that I'm picking on just poor Leo here. OK, rich Leo. Here are other recent examples of liberalism at work in causing America's energy problems that don't involve a rich liberal movie star:

* Building nuclear power plants: Here's an AP dispatch from July 9, 2008:

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- An environmental group has filed a petition with federal regulators, seeking to block Duke Energy Corp.'s plan to build and operate two nuclear reactors near Gaffney, S.C.

In its filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League said the cost to build nuclear power plants and the inherent dangers of operating them outweigh the benefits of increased power generation.

* Drilling for oil: This story is an Associated Press report from December 2007:

Environmental and Native Alaskan groups asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to block Royal Dutch Shell PLC's plans for exploratory drilling near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

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Letter to the Editor

topics:
Barack Obama, Business, Environment, Hollywood, Law, NATO, Energy, Alaska, Oil

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