Playing to Lose

Obama is going to get his ass kicked on this one.

Which is exactly the idea.

Sometimes you play to win, and sometimes you play to lose.

By losing on the supposed "policy," Obama will win the political gambit, which is the real game being played here. After all, does anyone seriously think any tree-hugger is ever going to vote for the party of Dick Cheney, George Bush, Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney? Not going to happen. Ever.

And so there is nothing to lose, but perhaps some "moderates" to gain.

By launching his own incompleted play to "drill, baby drill," Obama hopes to remove a GOP talking point from the table and gain some ground from the center.

Will that work?

No, but it's a play with very little downside for him since NEPA and and EIS requirements associated with coastal drilling, and the court challenges that these will spawn, will likely take longer to process than his administration will actually be in office.

Just in case, however, the Obama Administration is exempting California from drilling. Memories of the Santa Barbara Oilspill, more than 40 years ago, still stain the collective memory of too many voters in that state, and there are simply too many electoral college votes there to take the risk. A good political player always hedges his bets a little....
.