It seems the old autocrat pulled it off. I was listening to Venezuela's electoral commission announce the results and with 90% of the votes counted, Chavez has about 54% and Capriles about 44%.
Capriles reportedly has accepted his defeat.
Ten point spread . . . right. Who believes that?
This election drives home the importance of having an energy policy that makes us not dependent on dubious politics in foreign countries. I hope Governor Romney delivers the message loud and clear that his administration will end our energy dependence on places such as the Middle East and Chavezlandia.
Drill our land for oil at home, or drill our troops for war abroad. That's the choice, and Solyndra ain't going to save you from having to make it.
Another concern, perhaps more immediate than oil dependence, may be the planned shutdown of hundreds of coal fired power plants next year. Obama promised to drive the coal energy market to bankruptcy and is making good on that promise via EPA regulations... just as he promised to double and then triple the price of gasoline. Perhaps Obama expected his wind and solar follies would take up the slack when electricity generation falls short of demand? But then that will be a problem for President Romney to handle.
ReplyDeleteThere's a minor problem here if you look at how many of Romeny's Massachusetts environmentalist appointments ended up in the Obama EPA. And the courts are generally supportive of the EPA's excesses.
DeleteI wonder if we'll see serious action here before we get regular brown and black-outs ... and of course the ones due to the shutdown of these coal fired plant will be mostly in Red State flyover country, which the environmentalists would like to turn into one big human free bison park anyway.
Yes, I hope that Obama's nonsense on coal costs him Ohio and Virginia.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty certain Obama's lost WV because of coal. That's not a lot of electoral votes, but if Ohio and Virginia follow suit (and polling makes it look like they might very well), Obama is toast. The NRA is strongly opposing Obama - that's several thousand undecideds jumping to Romney. If they're in the correct states, this election will get very interesting.
DeleteActually the spread while large is similar to exit polls. Problem is not connecting with rural voters. He had a shot just not enough gravitas to pull it off. If he was a governor of some large state maybe.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts on deliberate or accidental foreign policy damage he could do in the interim after results are in next month and he knows he's out?
ReplyDelete@49er I also worry about that. If we have a lame duck that will be ousted in the election, there is no end of damage they could do.
ReplyDeleteThe very idea that the pipeline from Canada was rejected by this admin is insanity. So, our greatest ally in the world has oil to export and we reject them? Much rather import oil on tankers that could damage the oceans than build a reliable pipeline, easily monitored from our northern cousins?
I think it gets down to our environmentalist friends wanting the "sausage" made where they can't see it.
I once had a very liberal person that I was working with on a charity tell me that she came from OK and that oil was "a very messy business." I asked her if she thought the oil industry was more or less regulated in KSA than it is in the USA. P.S. she drove a suburban...
A Venezuelan acquaintance posted on facebook that she felt as if she'd attended the funeral of Venezuelan democracy. Que dolor.
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