John McCain kicked off “environmental week” with a speech advocating a “cap-and-trade” system that sets overall limits on domestic greenhouse gas emissions to combat the ostensible threat of global warming.ÂÂ
The Wall Street Journal was among those criticizing the proposal on its merits (or lack thereof), noting that the Bush Administration’s current approach has reduced US net carbon emissions by more than all but four countries in “cap-and-trading” Europe, without creating new forms of political rent-seeking and spawning additional bureacracies.
Moreover, I have previously suggested that McCain’s effort seems Quixotic, given how little the vast majority of voters really care about the environmental issues generally (and global warming in particular, as public opinion polling bears out).
However, I must slightly revise that view to point out that McCain’s speech may have been politically dumb on yet another level. While it is true that very few people rate global warming as the sort of issue that greatly affects their vote, it is possible that it is an issue with what political scientists call saliency to a small, yet significant group. For example, few people vote for candidates based solely on issues like abortion or gun control, but pro-life voters and gun-rights voters have proven to be politically potent constituencies.
This point sprang to mind while reading some late coverage of the Democratic campaign:
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are talking more about “clean coal” and less about global warming as they woo voters in West Virginia and Kentucky — two states that sit at the heart of the nation’s coal economy.
In a bid to draw voters ahead of Democratic primaries in West Virginia on Tuesday and Kentucky on May 20, both candidates are playing up the ascendant role of commercially untested and so far economically nonviable ways of converting America’s plentiful coal supplies into electricity without spewing massive quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
In contrast, Team McCain decided to go to Oregon (where the odds seem bleak) so that Maverick could position himself as Al Gore Lite, rather than crash the Democratic party in West Virginia (where votes were focused and free media was plentiful) to talk about national defense, God, guns, taxes, etc. As the voters of West Virginia rejected Gore in 2000, McCain has to hope West Virginians were not paying attention to him. That is a genius tactic.
Cap and trade before it gets any worse. Nice work, Maverick.
what’s next, McCain- Gore team?
You know, I’m starting to regret my support for McCain …
Fortunately, Carin, I can claim to have never supported McCain. Any vote I cast with his name on it will be an anti-Baracky vote.
If McCain won’t win it, the Obamaman can!
Last week I thought I’d finished my self-sufficiency preparations, using the arrival of the Pander Check from the IRS as an excuse to quit buying food storage, paying debts off, and topping up ammo.
Wrong. Wrong. And I’m off to buy more surplus GI boxes; the UPS guy will be here by Friday.
JD, you vote must be safe, your state votes GOP reliably. carin has to worry, Michigan can go both ways
I should have said “to mark the day I finished” instead of “as an excuse to”.
Boy, I really miss my brain.
how about Bob Barr?
Would you consider voting for him?
JD, I’m joking. My McCain non-love goes way back. I voted for Fred in the primary. I’d have a Fred sticker on my car if I had one.
But, Sashal is right. I cannot afford to not vote. If hillary was in it, I would be down-right excited to vote. With O!, though, the population-dense Dem cities (code word for black) will be out in full force and Michigan will prolly go Blue again. So, then again, maybe it won’t really matter.
I just think O is gonna suck SO BAD … and yet the Media will be hailing him or not mentioning his failures.
In the long run, an O win would be better for the Republican party. Better than picking a RINO.
In the long run, an O win would be better for the Republican party
The best line I’ve heard in the long time
I might vote for Barr given that my vote won’t matter.
Sashal – I didn’t want to feel that way. I wanted McCain to buck up and fly RIGHT once he was the nominee. So far, he’s do nothing to gain my confidence.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think Hill or O won’t totally fuck up in office.
McCain? Isn’t he, like, old?
Slart … I think we need an investigative journalist to look into those charges. The voters do need to be informed.
That doesn’t mean I don’t think Hill or O won’t totally fuck up in office.
carin, that remains to be seen, but in any case the catharsis will be good for GOP, they too need change from Bush’s foriegn policies radicalism and the hope for more competent administration;
btw, the “scary-negro-bitter-pastor†strategy the RNC employed in the race down south didn’t work in Mississippi, it’s not going to work anywhere.
Not a good times for a republican party in the current Bush reincarnation
He won’t get the LP nomination — but if he did it could have the effect of possible putting Georgia into play.
Being that I live in Georgia, and am not a McCain supporter, the possibility of Barr winning the LP nomination (which he won’t) puts me in mind of the Chinese definition of “interesting times.”
–“McCain? Isn’t he, like, old?”
– Yes, but its a safely confused “old”, so McDinosaur won’t do anything important in the office.
– I looked at Barr. Interestingly the pic they have of him up on the FOX site makes him look like Rev. Wright’s lost lost twin brother.
– Hes a super conservative economically/socially. Unfortunately hes a wuss on the war and foreign policy. Basically an isolationist. Even worse than the O!.
–“….it’s not going to work anywhere.
– Guess WV didn’t get the memo.
Crap. He could get the LP nomination, then. But at least I’m no longer tempted.
Oops. Mat was thee.
.. and now for something entirely different..
STOP THE PRESSES… Real news coming… New Woody Allen movie due out in September features hotties Scarlett Johannson and Penelope Cruz in hot girl on girl action erotic scene(s)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Who can even think of JohnMcCain in light of this news? (.. or would want to..)
Is it too early to preorder my tickets on Fandango, ya think?
Who do you think they’ll nominate? Gravel? Paul says he doesn’t want it. Badnarick? The Ghost of Harry Browne?
Once the left got people worried about CO2 emissions, it was all over. All living critters output CO2. Every combustion process results in CO2. It’s frelling everywhere.
It’s really one of the left’s greatest triumphs. The only thing that can save us is a decrease in average temperature, and that might be happening. The fact is sooner or later we’ll (or our decendents will) be in another ice age, and people will be trying to figure out how to get things warmer. A world that’s a little warmer would be much easier to take than one that is colder.
Boy am I tired of folks insisting is just one big, Blue blob of inherent liberalism.
Oregon is huge state, mostly Red, held hostage by Portland and Salem which is an especially pretty shade of Corruption Blue in our case (Google Neil Goldschmidt).
Even though Oregon has this (well deserved) reputation of being a reputiation for nutcases, we are divided: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=85810&sid=5&fid=1
Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t suggest the Red parts (Eastern, Central, most of the Willamete Valley and Coastal) secede from the Blue parts (Portland & the College towns.)
Oregon is just one big Blue blob*
…and a refuge for nutcases* Not. Sufficiently. Caffeinated.
At some state convention, Gravelhead did get more support than Barr did. Not a lot, but neither one amounted much of a blip compared to the favorite daughter.
I wasn’t aware Barr had gone iso, which improves his chances of getting the nom and reduces (IMO) his chances of hurting McCain much in Georgia.
Although I like McCain as a person, I do not think that he is the leader that this country needs at this time. I think he would just be a carbon copy of GW Bush, and I don’t think that is the answer. I’ll be voting for whichever democrat is running.
Linda left out “I’ve been a life-long conservative” … yada yada yada.
Of all the things one might say of McCain, that ain’t one of them, as the post itself demonstrates.
I think it’s more like “conservative alienation week 20” in a 52 week series.
Ouroboros – You will have to stand in line behind me.
Linda is a Moby.
The only hope for conservatives is that one day McCain will miss his med.’s , have a Howard Dean moment, and let the convention nominate someone else. And Cari, I understand. I’m in New York, way upstate, and the Rotten Apple will take the electoral votes into the camp of the party of the Jack***.
[…] Protein Wisdom – Another reason John McCain’s global warming speech was dumb [Karl] […]
Folks- you don’t get it. If he’s premising his support for some kind of treaty like Kyoto as being dependent on the inclusion of China and India, well AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN and he knows it. It’s all a cover for moderate votes.
By the way, if you aren’t voting McCain, I guess you don’t care about who the next three-five Supremes will be, eh?
American Idols Live Tickets Quicken Loans Arena…
Mike: His performance made up my mind about that he is not as good as Casey and made me feel sure that he is the next to go home. It left me feeling there is no way he could / should win….