As most of my colleagues are aware, I've been traveling in south east Asia, doing research for my new book, and class I will be teaching on emerging democracies and their political communication patterns...
That being said, after reading the disparaging job news from last week, and a USA Today piece in Sunday's paper USA TODAY DRILLING BAN PIECE I'm compelled to question whether or not the current oil drilling moratorium makes sense either functionally or politically.
By now most of us are aware that the US Economy shed nearly 131,000 jobs last month, and that June's numbers were revised (DOWN) by nearly 100k jobs. Dismal news at best. CNBC JOBS FIGURES
Now, As a supporter of the president, I realize that there is no way to completely turn-around the economy in 12-24 months, and that much was done to stabilize what was an extremely fragile situation in 2009.
However, that being said the political environment that currently exists lacks any real personification of how things have gotten better for individuals. The administration as well as mid-term D's are suffering because of that.
Coinciding with the optic of dismal job numbers is the question of whether or not the moratorium on off-shore drilling is functionally, or politically effective.
While initially it may have seemed like a prudent move that showed authority on behalf of the admin, the unwillingness to adjust even though numerous stories abound about how BP, and the Deep Water Horizon was an outlier in terms of safety adherence. BP SAFETY RECORD 1
I would argue that functionally and politically the digging in of the heels on this issue is a mistake...and a serious one. In an environment where jobs are the Republicans key argument, and their new mantra is Obama's job killing policies - D's need to have a strong, and personalized counter argument. For example, here are stories about how the moratorium is directly affecting people's employment in an economy that is already battered... Personal Job Loss Stories
And here they came to the hill asking for help...Group Heads to Hill asks to end Moratorium
We all know America needs to move towards renewable energy. This is a fact, and not debatable no matter what your political bent is. However, making that move immediately is impossible, and thinking that a ban on drilling in the gulf is a "green victory" is foolhardy.
Why? Because in an environment where jobs rule the discussion of the day, and there is a ban in place that is costing businesses money, and keeping people on the gulf-coast out of work, D's by way of election losses will be less likely to be able to move important green legislation such as cap and trade, or whatever new form it may take post Nov.
It seems there is a lack of long-term thinking here, and without personalized stories with which to effectively counter...lifting the ban to put people back to work in least in my mind seems like a much stronger move towards helping Americans deal with the most pressing problem at hand... Jobs.