The administration's decision to implement an offshore drilling plan depressingly similar to one Democrats thwarted Bush from enacting for about a decade got me to thinking. What would candidate Obama think of all this?

Well, let's check in with the candidate and see:

I think this line by the good candidate sums up the current situation completely.

Well the politics may have changed. But the facts haven't. The accuracy of Senator McCain's [Candidate Obama's] original position has not changed. Offshore drilling would not lower gas prices today. It would not lower gas prices tomorrow. It would not lower gas prices this year. It would not lower gas prices 5 years from now.

Remember Obama's declaration last week that his HCR bill was pretty much lifted from Mitt Romney with a wealth of other republican doo-dads? Now this decision to follow the republican strategy of "drill here, drill now" ... with a new slogan. All of this adds up to one big question in the mind of an independent voter:

Have Democrats, deep down inside, believed Republican policy was right all this time? Were they fighting these policy prescriptions for the past 8 years when Bush tried to implement them, even though they secretly agreed, just to keep Republicans from achieving any goals? And if today's Democrats genuinely believe Republican policy prescriptions are preferable to progressive ones, why shouldn't America just cut out the middle man and elect Republicans? 

As more and more of Obama's policies can best be promoted with the phrase "This is exactly what the Republicans have been advocating for years", is increasingly untenable to argue "These guys have no plans." If these guys' plans are so bad, why do democrats keep using them?

Update: This is a pretty important quote from the video as well:

And when I am President, I plan to keep in place the morotorium here in Florida, and around the country, that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida's coasts. That's how we can protect our coastlines and still make the investments that reduce our dependence on foreign oil and reduce gas prices for good. That may not poll well. And I understand that Senator McCain may have looked at the polls and said, you know, that "people might buy drilling or they might buy a gas tax holiday". My job is not to go with the polls. My job is to tell the American people what is going to work when it comes to our long term energy future.

Ahhh Barack ... we barely knew ye.