David Freddoso on Dems & Gas Prices on National Review Online

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OGY4NGVkNjcyYWI4NTZjMTk5NTQ0NmMzZjc2M2E1MGE=&w=MQ==

If President Bush is willing to veto any appropriations bill that contains the drilling ban, he will give congressional Republicans a serious chance in their legislative fight against the provision. "The sense among Republicans has been that we won't be able to do anything on drilling because we have to get 60 votes," DeMint told me. "But if the president helps us, we can lift it with just 34 votes." Judging by the president's speech yesterday in Ohio, in which he serially challenged Congress to act on the OCS ban, on oil-shale development, and on opening ANWR — all in order to lower consumer energy prices — it appears for now that he's in the Congressional minority's corner.

To be sure, a complete or even a partial government shutdown poses serious risks for Republicans. The parties would obviously blame one another for the situation, and things would get ugly right before the election. Many Republicans remember the disaster that befell the party after the 1995 spending fight with President Bill Clinton that led to a shutdown. But DeMint points out that this fight, unlike that one, would be over a high-profile issue on which Republicans are clearly supported by the American public. Drilling is popular, and the Democratic majority is not — and that is a recipe for success.