Bush, Iran and Mid-Term Elections

How can President Bush both respond to Iran’s middle finger to the UN and revive his domestic political standing at the same time? By taking a very uncompromising and tough stance with Iran on the global stage while at the same time making a renewed push at home for Congressional approval to drill for oil and natural gas in Alaska’s Artic Natural Wildlife Refuge.

During the upcoming mid-term election year, a tough stance with Iran will predictably provoke Democrats to oppose the President based on an anti-war platform. This will appear like a no-brainer strategy as Mr. Bush has been routinely hammered in the polls for his administration’s management of the Iraq war. The Democrats will argue that they need to elect more members on their side of both houses to keep the President in check through the remainder of his term, the hidden message being so that we won’t go to war with Iran.

If Mr. Bush and the Republicans suffer a defeat in November based on this scenario, Iran will surely take note that the American people do not have the stomach to confront their quest for nuclear status and intention to reshape the Middle East. Therefore, it is imperative that Mr. Bush prevent this political defeat from occurring.

That is where ANWR comes into the picture. Mr. Bush should make a major push for ANWR on the basis of national security, making the point that we must not leave future generations in the vulnerable position that we find ourselves in today due to our reliance on the lifeblood of our economy from a region so hostile to us.

When those same Democrats who will oppose Mr. Bush’s tough stance with Iran scream and howl that we can’t disrupt the pristine Alaskan North Slope, Republicans will be able to pounce on the inconsistency of their position. They will be able to point out that Democrats don’t want the country to take a potentially military position today, but they also don’t want to do something that will make the prospect of future generations having to face just that horrible decision less likely.