Chessmaster

Last week, President Barack Obama managed to anger politicians and constituents all over the political spectrum when he announced his energy plan, and his proposal for off-shore oil drilling. As energy prices continue to climb, and global warming continues to threaten us, energy policy has been an important issue, both inside and outside of Washington, for a long time. Obama's drilling plan is actually two fold. First, he has lifted the ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic coast for all states south of New Jersey, except for Florida. Florida bans drilling by statute and that cannot be lifted without legislation by congress. Also, and this was widely under-reported, it reinstates a ban off of Alaska's coast that was lifted under George W. Bush.
With this action. Obama has pissed off progressives and conservatives alike, although, really, those guidelines don't really work for this discussion. Both of Virginia's Democratic Senators are for it, but Democratic Senators from Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Florida are against it. Also, both of Alaska's Senators, Democrat Mark Begich and Republican Lisa Murkowski, are for it. Of course, this thing gets a little more complicated as soon as one digs just a little.
Obama is doing this to lay the ground work for energy and environmental legislation. Some Congressmen, notably of Virginia, want that plan to include a revenue sharing agreement between the state and federal government that would allow the states to take some portion of the tax monies that come from the oil being taken out of the ground. These are lawmakers who might not be inclined to vote for the energy bill at all, but more state revenue would make it a lot easier to swallow. And, of course, there has to be oil coming out of the ground to create revenue to share in the first place! However, some Senators, notably Democrates Jeff Bingamen of New Mexico and Byron Dorgon of North Dakota (both on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee), are for offshore drilling but against the revenue sharing agreement. Then there are the Republicans, who shouted "Drill, baby, drill" for months, and are now chastising Obama for not going far enough. What was that they were saying about Obama playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers?
Obama has managed to anger environmentalist and pro-business conservatives, and divide the Democratic party. Is this just smart politics, or is there some policy substance here? Has Obama flip-flopped? Maybe the best thing Obama has done here is outsmart the Republican talking point machine. Obama has come up with a nuanced plan that cannot be demonized in a 10 second clip by the right. Now, he can just sit back and watch their heads explode.