Reply #16: Politics is a game, and it isn't even a fair game. The media is against us because of

[GarbagemanLB]

soundbytes, which forces our politics into simple, black and white terms. The American people are feeling a lot of pain at the pumps, and one side is using the simple (but flawed) argument that more drilling = more oil = less cost. Meanwhile, the Democrats are fumbling for a short, simple rebuttal to what is seen as a proactive solution to the problem. Simply saying "well, there are already millions of acres that the oil companies have which they aren't drilling" isn't a good enough answer, and it is showing in the polls.

On FISA, I agree that he should have stuck against it because it was an issue that the majority of the public didn't fully understand and there was an opening to define his position to the public in principled terms.

That doesn't exist with this drilling issue, because the media and the GOP have been successful at framing it. I, for one, don't want Obama to waste half of his time being on the defensive on this issue when he could be campaigning on the myriad (basically ALL) of other issues that the Democrats WIN on.