2008

Now that John McCain has delivered his nomination speech, one thing is clear: Drill! drill! drill! has emerged as a key plank in the candidate's energy, economic and national security strategy. And the GOP loves it.

McCain:

We'll produce more energy at home. We will drill new wells off-shore, and we'll drill them now. We'll drill them now.

On top of oil exploration, McCain said:

We'll build more nuclear power plants.

We'll develop clean-coal technology.

We'll increase the use of wind, tide, solar, and natural gas.

We'll encourage the development and use of flex-fuel, hybrid and electric automobiles.

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On Day 3 of the RNC, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin took center stage -- along with domestic oil drilling.

The drill-here, drill-now message poured out all over the convention to the roars of a pumped-up Republican crowd, who spontaneously took up the chant: "Drill, Baby, Drill!" Astonishing.

The phrase was coined by Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, who said during his remarks:

So, do you want to put your country first? Then let's reduce our dependency on foreign sources of oil and promote oil and gas production at home.

In other words, drill baby drill! And drill now!

It stuck.

The RNC was in full swing on Day 2. The wrap-up:

President Bush endorsed McCain via satellite (transcript of speech), while Fred Thompson acted as a McCain character witness, with a delivery that pleased party faithfuls, it seems.

Not an ounce of real policy substance. But. Global warming earned its first mention in an RNC speech, albeit scant and meaningless. Via Senator Joe Lieberman in the day's closing remarks:

If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do something about global warming. But he did!

As Jake Tapper of ABC News points out:

Lieberman gets the Republicans to clap for everything they hate about McCain.

In other convention reax, Gristmill’s Kate Shepard calls the "first big night of speeches eerily sedate." The National Review’s Jay Nordlinger adds:

An austere, abbreviated and less political RNC kicked off yesterday in Minnesota, as Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast and stole the show.

What remained? A business meeting, writes the Washington Post. The American Spectator kicks off its coverage with "Bye Bye Bush:"

As thousands protested in the streets, the Palins announced the latest addition to their family, and the GOP turned its national convention into a Jerry Lewis-style telethon for the victims of Hurricane Gustav, John McCain's party began its transition into the post-Bush era.

President Bush’s appearance was canceled, along with Dick Cheney’s. (Here's the list of what was to have been the RNC line-up.)

Meanwhile, top GOP climate leader Gov. Schwarzenegger announced he will skip the full convention on account of California’s budget impasse.

No big surprise at the DNC on Day 4: Obama’s acceptance speech was the story of the night (transcript).

The New York Times’ Chris Suellentrop rounds up early reactions in this aptly titled post: Well Spoken. More reax here from Andrew Sullivan, from the left and right.

Obama put energy squarely in the spotlight, as he dangled this whopper of a promise in front of Americans:

For the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Here’s how:

I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

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The big news at the DNC on Day 3? The Democrats formally nominated Barack Obama as their candidate for president in an historic first for America.

The National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru wraps up (scroll down) the rest:

It was the Democrats' best night so far.

Attack-dog Senator Joe Biden formally accepted the VP nomination (transcript). On energy, he declared:

Barack Obama will transform our economy by making alternative energy a genuine national priority, creating 5 million new jobs and finally freeing us from the grip of foreign oil.

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Day 2 of the DNC came to a close last night with energy issues front and center.

Hillary’s remarks hit all the right notes. TIME's headline: "Clinton Delivers for Obama." Gristmill writes: "Hillary Clinton says lots of good stuff on climate and energy."

Snippets from her speech follow (full text here, videos after the post):

We need to elect Barack Obama because we need a President…who understands that we can't solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in new technologies that will build a green economy.

He'll transform our energy agenda by creating millions of green jobs and building a new, clean energy future.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer gave a slashing attack on McCain’s energy policies and a rousing rallying cry for Obama in this stunner of a speech that names the "petro-dictators" as the adversary they are. That earned him rounds of applause and top mention in the Los Angeles Times and Forbes, who comments:

The 2008 Democratic National Convention kicked off yesterday with throngs of delegates descending on Denver and a firm party commitment to embrace Barack Obama’s election plank -- energy and climate policies included.

ENS parses the green details here, while the Wall Street Journal clears the air on Obama and cap-and-trade legislation: if elected, expect it to be President Obama's #1 economic priority.

As predicted, aspiring First Lady Michelle Obama and ailing Senator Ted Kennedy stole the Day 1 show with electrifying, homerun speeches, earning near-unanimous media praise. (Read the transcript of Obama's speech here and Kennedy's here. Videos of both follow the post.)

Among the other first impressions to emerge, here's one of the most prevalent: ExxonMobil, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and the whole clean coal lie are "everywhere."