Selling a lame policy is another...

It would be perfectly OK for McCain to change his mind about off-shore drilling. Conditions have changed. I believe that it is inevitable that the moratorium on off-shore drilling will end at some point as that oil becomes more and more valuable. That's not the problem here. What we have here is McCain pandering in much the same way as he did with his gasoline tax holiday.

The problem is that the 'straight talking' McCain is trying to pitch off-shore drilling as a major solution to our nations short and long term energy concerns. It is not an important long-term solution because there just isn't enough oil their to matter that much in the long run. It isn't a short term solution because it will take a long time to get the oil into the marketplace in any events. It will not effect the price of gasoline much because the oil will be priced based on the world market price and the amount of oil in the preserves isn't big enough to effect the global market much.

When people like McCain and Bush say they are now interested in ending the moritorium on off-shore drilling to help the poor files having to pay for $4.00 gas they are either lying and assuming the voters are stupid or stupid themselves, take your pick.