Since the days of Reagan and especially after the Contract With America Republican members of the Congress, mostly the Senate have had a habit of shooting themselves in the foot. After taking control of the Congress in 1994GOP lawmakers had a run of success for awhile during the first Clinton term then began stumbling over true GOP values of limited government and reducing spending until their spend thrift ways brought back a Democrat majority in 2006.

Since the birth of the Pelosi/Reid Congress and the absolute failure of Democrats in doing anything , Republicans have failed to take advantage of these failings and the dismal Democrat record setting low approval numbers even in the single digits.

GOP lawmakers seem to have been satisfied with mediocrity and bowing to the whims of the failed liberal leadership claiming that they had no power to do anything because the votes just were not there. That combined with a group of RINO Republicans who sided with Democrats more often than not have made the GOP in Congress rather spineless.

Then on Friday August 1, an amazing thing happened. House GOP members found a backbone on an issue that has escalated over the past months that the GOP and the America people agree on completely. So much so that it is an issue that the Republicans actually own and have the opportunity to not only make a dent in the liberal stranglehold of Congress but maybe even take back the House.

When GOP House members refused to leave for the August recess and have continued to remain debating the energy bill and especially oil drilling to a packed gallery and a darkened House Chamber, House members have shown the American people a backbone and a stance on the defining issue of this campaign that favors the GOP over the Democrats by large numbers.

Republican Presidential candidate John McCain in his run for the White House stands on the right side of the drilling issue which is in contrast to the maybe I might think about it eventually attitude of Barack Obama. This combined with an obvious over saturation of media coverage of Obama has not only kept McCain within the margin of error but fluctuating with the lead in many polls with a campaign that is struggling for any air time.

It has become apparent that the over saturation of Obama by the media hounds who have already crowned him a messiah and selected him as President is beginning to have an effect on the American public as Obamamania is beginning to tire a voting public who tire easily of the political process during a long and heated campaign. So McCain’s lack of media coverage may actually be helping his campaign rather than boosting Obama’s campaign as the MSM would wish for the anointed leader.

So what is the reaction to this favorable situation by Republican Senators ? They jump ship and create the,”Gang of Ten.” Five Republican and five Democrat Senators who have reached a ,”compromise,” over energy that supposedly allows drilling combined with some of the conservation and alternatives that the Democrats favor over drilling. That is until one actually sees the fine print of the bill.

As has been the case during this spineless streak by the GOP when a compromise is reached between Republicans and Democrats the compromise looks like a rewrite of the Democrat agenda with Republicans accepting a totally water downed even washed out version of GOP ideas.

This ,”compromise,” actually adds regulation for drilling and hamstrings off shore drilling to a point that it becomes not only counter productive but almost useless to attempt to drill. While the Democrats in the ,”gang,” have managed to keep all of their environmentally charged issues like alternative fuels, saving the planet from the ,”dangers,” of oil drilling on land and because of the restrictions in the bill offshore also.

The bill limits drilling offshore to four States and outside a barrier of fifty miles. The deposits known to exist are in a range of about twenty five miles off shore and the depth of the Ocean at fifty miles makes exploration of possible deposits not only more expensive but a tremendously increased difficulty because of the depth.

One of the,”gang,” who has been a,”gang,” member in nearly every ,”gang,” related situation that has taken place in the Senate is South Carolina’s Lindsay Graham who happens to, unfortunately, represent my State. I called the Senators office last week complaining about this compromise and talked with a staffer.

The attitude of panic and defeat was obvious. I explained to the staffer that the issue of oil and drilling was an issue that the GOP controlled and had the possibility of actually gaining seats in the House. The response that I received was that Graham compromised because Democrats, “will,” have a VETO proof majority and the White House after November and that the GOP had to get used to compromising with Democrats.

Now this is not an exact quote but does follow the direction of the conversation. I , of course, in a manner that caused a considerable restraint on my part explained to the staffer that Graham was an idiot for conceding the election and was compromising on an issue where compromise is not needed.

This one issue alone is sinking the Democrats and the numbers are proving this fact. As far as the Presidential election is concerned, Obama’s over saturation, (you can’t change the channel without seeing or hearing him), his being on the wrong side of drilling and continuing to claim the failure of the surge though the evidence and even aspects of the medias reporting prove otherwise is also keeping his numbers low.

This along with what looks to be a dis-trust of Obama with likely voters not only favors McCain but is on the way to electing him. The failures in the House and the GOP revolt have also opened the distinct possibility of gains in the House and maybe even firing the very unpopular Nancy Pelosi as Speaker by the GOP regaining the majority.

Yet Graham and the other four in the gang have already conceded the election by their attitude and their compromise. House members have finally found a backbone while Senators cave on the very same issue. Thankfully this ,”compromise,” has not reached the Senate floor and will not until after the Convention when lawmakers return in September. Hopefully Graham and his fellow wimps will see the folly of this bill by then or the strength of the GOP position will be so obvious that the bill will die a quick death.

New York Yankee Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra once said, “it ain’t over ’till it’s over.” This Berra quote applies to this particular election more than most since Obama who should be up by twenty points because of the coverage he receives is actually, because of that same biased and over coverage, facing an Obama weary public that should be just beginning to have an interest in the election and not peaking until late October.

This combined with the failures of Pelosi, (she can’t even sell her book), the Democrat Congress and being on the wrong side of the defining issue in this election which is oil, not only makes the results of a very heated election very up in the air but despite predictions to the contrary, Republicans both in the White House run and Congressional races are far stronger than the pundits claim and the American people are decidedly leaning GOP!

Ken Taylor ( http://theliberalslies.blogspot.com )