President Bush Needs to Take Charge and Do the Job that McCain Refuses or is Unable to Do.

Dan Henniger reports, "Recently the subject came up of Al Gore's assertion that the U.S. could get its energy solely from renewables in 10 years. Sen. McCain said: 'If the vice president says it's doable, I believe it's doable.' What!!??"

Since the presumptive nominee for the Maverick Party is not up to the job, I would urge President Bush to take charge, even if it will make McCain look incredibly small by comparison.

George W. should put together a grand-slam of a speech -- putting together all of the above points, noting that high gas prices are really hurting the economy and threatening the national security; that putting food (corn) into our gas tanks only exacerbates the problem and creates new problems; that oil is used for more than gasoline (the History Channel or some other cable channel last night had a show demonstrating how practically every product we use in everyday life has a petroleum component to it); that we have "clean" and "safe" methods of extracting oil from all sorts of areas; that current alternatives actually end up using more energy than does oil; that the economy would boom from new jobs building and operating new drill sites, new refineries, etc.; that we are in our current mess ONLY because of the obstruction tactics against drilling and refining that have gone on for the last 25 years; and that we need to drill, drill, drill, and refine, refine, refine.

George W. should then present these facts point-by-point in a speech in a prime-time Oval Office speech, and announce that he is recalling Congress from their derilicition of duty and abdication of their responsibilities, and ordering them back into session until they pass a comprehensive bill that he is presenting to Congress obtaining all the necessary objectives. Or better yet, call Congress back into session and give it another similar speech before a joint session.

George W. should hammer it home again and again and again, loudly and with all the public-relation resources at his disposal. I know that he does not want to steal any thunder from McCain, and so he is holding back more than he otherwise might, but it ain't going to get done by the current crop of candidates.

What else can I say? I agree.

Once again, John McCain is praising the opposing side. That is to say, the conservatives' opposing side. Given McCain's history, however, I suppose it could be said that he is praising his own side -- the Democratic side.


Is John McCain Stupid?
By DANIEL HENNINGER
July 31, 2008; Page A13

What I'm asking is, does John McCain have the mental focus, the intellectual discipline, to avoid being out-slicked by Barack Obama, if he isn't abandoned by his own voters?

It's not just taxes. Recently the subject came up of Al Gore's assertion that the U.S. could get its energy solely from renewables in 10 years. Sen. McCain said: "If the vice president says it's doable, I believe it's doable." What!!?? In a later interview, Mr. McCain said he hadn't read "all the specifics" of the Gore plan and now, "I don't think it's doable without nuclear power." It just sounds loopy.

Then this week in San Francisco, in an interview with the Chronicle, Sen. McCain called Nancy Pelosi an "inspiration to millions of Americans." Notwithstanding his promises to "work with the other side," this is a politically obtuse thing to say in the middle of a campaign. Would Bill Clinton, running for president in 1996 after losing control of the House, have called Newt Gingrich an "inspiration"? House Minority Leader John Boehner, facing a 10-to-20 seat loss in November, must be gagging. . . .

Yes, Sen. McCain must somehow appeal to independents and blue-collar Hillary Democrats. A degree of pandering to the center is inevitable. But this stuff isn't pandering; it's simply stupid. Al Gore's own climate allies separated themselves from his preposterous free-of-oil-in-10-years whopper. Sen. McCain saying off-handedly that it's "doable" is, in a word, thoughtless.

Speaker Pelosi heads a House with a 9% approval. To let her off the hook before the election reflects similar loss of thought. . . .

In this sports-crazed country, everyone has learned a lot about what it takes to win. They've heard and seen it proven repeatedly that to achieve greatness, to win the big one, an athlete has to be ready to "put in the work."

John McCain isn't doing that, yet. He's competing as if he expects the other side to lose it for him. Sen. McCain is a famously undisciplined politician. Someone in the McCain circle had better do some straight talking to the candidate. He's not some 19-year-old tennis player who's going to win the U.S. presidential Open on raw talent and the other guy's errors. He's not that good.

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