I think the McCain campaign and the GOP have hit on a winning issue in the Democrats' refusal to countenance oil drilling or expansion of nuclear power in the USA, one that could cost Barack Obama the election.

It’s a good issue not because the Republicans are right. You know when Michele Bachmann is gaga over an effort, something is rotten about it. Americans who pay attention understand that domestic oil drilling is not likely to substantially impact oil prices for years, even if it invades every potential continental shore and wild land in the Arctic. Neither will it be possible to construct new nuclear plants and come to terms with radioactive waste storage in the next few years.

But most people don’t get the nuance. They see today’s gas prices and will see this winter’s energy bills and are demanding solutions. By standing in the way of solutions, the Dems look like ideologues who are putting green dogma ahead of the country’s economy and the average guy’s solvency—during an economic crisis no less.

Even John McCain understands we must be aiming for a post-oil America, one where what remains is dedicated to specific purposes for which there are no alternatives. More drilling is not going to accomplish that. Nuclear power might help. But the first order is conservation and the second step is investing in making all kinds of other things work.

If the Dems hope to inoculate themselves against this issue, they are going to have to compromise and insist on tangible conservation and alternatives incentives while we take steps to find more oil and figure out how to make nuclear power work. If they refuse, the GOP will reasonably portray them as extremists, and most Americans will agree.

More oil drilling is more than likely a gimmick, particularly in the short-term. But it’s a gimmick that will turn into a land mine if the Dems can’t navigate their way past it.