Whose vote is Obama trying to get?
David Dayen at FireDogLake is as baffled as we are at President Obama’s decision to expand offshore drilling:
I think the Occam’s Razor conclusion is that Obama has no problem allowing very rich interests to go on with dirty energy production. He has made investments in solar and wind (and offshore wind may be a part of this exploration), sure, but he also flipped on drilling way back in August 2008, in the middle of the Presidential campaign. This announcement merely codifies that wish for an “all-of-the-above” energy solution. He has always supported clean coal, and corn-based ethanol fuels, and nuclear energy plants like Exelon; nothing new there. In fact, those elements often get MORE attention in Obama speeches than solar and wind. In short, he IS the midwestern coal-and-ethanol-state swing vote that he’s been courting. So why wouldn’t he go ahead and add drilling to the list as well?