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A View from the Cheap Seats by Garren Shipley
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There's nothing quite like the dog days of summer in the Shenandoah Valley. Days of stifling heat punctuated by cooling thunderstorms, summer cicadas rattling the trees with their song and politicians working to win election to higher office.
That last one is a bit of a new development. Normally it's safe to abandon the Cheap Seats for a few days this time of year for relaxation and grilling chicken-on-a-stick. But things are different this year.
The past few days of the campaign have been remarkable, not only for the amount of energy expended during a time period when most people couldn't care less about politics, but also for the weapon of choice of both campaigns: energy.
Both sides smell blood in the water on the issue (i.e. have done polling). Republican candidate John McCain continues to hammer on Democratic candidate Barack Obama with the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" mantra he launched earlier in the summer.
And it appears to be working to some degree -- Obama and other Democrats are now talking about a "grand bargain" or other deal that would allow offshore drilling in exchange for higher mileage standards on cars and trucks and renewable energy incentives.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has fired off no less than nine press releases and e-mails attempting to tie McCain to Vice President Cheney and "Big Oil" -- serious red meat for the Democratic base. Obama has echoed the call to some degree, accusing McCain of being in the pocket of oil companies.
While we're not privy to campaign polling here in the Cheap Seats, it looks fairly obvious that campaign polls show people 1) are in favor of drilling through baby seals (if necessary) to bring down the price of gas, and 2) hold oil companies in slightly lower esteem than the devil himself and Congress put together.
Throw in the veepstakes with Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine both in the running, and August looks like it'll be a hot one in Virginia. But the presidential race isn't the only contest that's pre-heated this year.
The campaign of 10th District Democratic nominee Judy Feder from doing everything the can to derail incumbent Republican Rep. Frank Wolf. Feder's team paid close attention to Wolf's votes on the floor in the days leading up to the August recess and hammered on each one without fail.
While that's not unusual for a congressional campaign, it is odd for late July.
Wolf's team has apparently decided that they're not going to take the attacks lying down like they did in 2006, and they've answered each and every one in kind.
Keep the Bermuda shorts and umbrella drinks handy. It's going to get a lotter hotter in Virginia before Election Day.
That last one is a bit of a new development. Normally it's safe to abandon the Cheap Seats for a few days this time of year for relaxation and grilling chicken-on-a-stick. But things are different this year.
The past few days of the campaign have been remarkable, not only for the amount of energy expended during a time period when most people couldn't care less about politics, but also for the weapon of choice of both campaigns: energy.
Both sides smell blood in the water on the issue (i.e. have done polling). Republican candidate John McCain continues to hammer on Democratic candidate Barack Obama with the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" mantra he launched earlier in the summer.
And it appears to be working to some degree -- Obama and other Democrats are now talking about a "grand bargain" or other deal that would allow offshore drilling in exchange for higher mileage standards on cars and trucks and renewable energy incentives.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee has fired off no less than nine press releases and e-mails attempting to tie McCain to Vice President Cheney and "Big Oil" -- serious red meat for the Democratic base. Obama has echoed the call to some degree, accusing McCain of being in the pocket of oil companies.
While we're not privy to campaign polling here in the Cheap Seats, it looks fairly obvious that campaign polls show people 1) are in favor of drilling through baby seals (if necessary) to bring down the price of gas, and 2) hold oil companies in slightly lower esteem than the devil himself and Congress put together.
Throw in the veepstakes with Rep. Eric Cantor, R-7th, and Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine both in the running, and August looks like it'll be a hot one in Virginia. But the presidential race isn't the only contest that's pre-heated this year.
The campaign of 10th District Democratic nominee Judy Feder from doing everything the can to derail incumbent Republican Rep. Frank Wolf. Feder's team paid close attention to Wolf's votes on the floor in the days leading up to the August recess and hammered on each one without fail.
While that's not unusual for a congressional campaign, it is odd for late July.
Wolf's team has apparently decided that they're not going to take the attacks lying down like they did in 2006, and they've answered each and every one in kind.
Keep the Bermuda shorts and umbrella drinks handy. It's going to get a lotter hotter in Virginia before Election Day.
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