Oil Spill Silences Once-Raucous 'Drill, Baby, Drill' Camp

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

"Drill, baby, drill" is now, "Hush, baby, hush."

The Republican battle cry that crystallized the growing popularity of offshore drilling has dropped from view since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank last week and the well it drilled started shooting crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

As Democratic opponents of the oil industry stepped up their attacks and demands for a sharp turn away from drilling, Republican leaders in Congress have slipped out of rapid-response mode and are generally holding their tongues.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has issued at least 11 broadsides at Democrats since the rig sank in 5,000 feet of water. Most dealt with financial regulatory reform. None addressed the rig explosion or spill. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has focused on jobs and health care in the nearly 20 statements he has issued in the past week without a word about the spill or loss of life, though at his on-camera news conference this week, reporters did not ask him about it.

A Nexis search turns up only four mentions of "drill, baby, drill" and Rudy Giuliani or Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who drove the slogan home during the McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Three are liberal cable hosts mocking the slogan.

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But even as oil began to wash ashore in Louisiana wetlands, Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future organization continued to solicit signatures for its "Drill here, Drill now, Pay less," campaign in support of more domestic production in American waters. The slogan is pasted atop the group's website above a staff-written spill update with a generally optimistic view, though it does note that the spill could damage the Gulf's seafood industry.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/04/30/30greenwire-oil-spill-silences-once-raucous-drill-baby-dri-28151.html