Now that thousands of barrels of oil are spewing into the Gulf of Mexico by the hour, Republican senators are pretending that "Drill, Baby, Drill" was never a party slogan.
"I think there was a candidate that used that," Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said. "I think our phrase was 'drill here, drill now,' meaning here in the United States and as quickly as oil and gas leases are going," reported The Hill's E2 Wire blog.
Are you supposed to believe that Kyl doesn't remember which candidate, or candidates, used the popular phrase?
In order to believe that, you'll have to forget all about the 2008 presidential election when Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and vice president nominee Sarah Palin made the "Drill, Baby, Drill" a cornerstone of their GOP platform.
In fact, just last month, Palin was in Boston as part of the Tea Party Express road tour and she pulled out the 2008 slogan and the crowd chanted: "Drill! Baby! Drill!" That was on April 14 of this year.
But, as The Hill's E2 Wire blog reports, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) said, "I don't know about the slogan. The slogan was what, two, three years ago and basically we had a lot of opposition to it anyway."
Alex Seitz-Wald at ThinkProgress reported, "It seems hard to believe that Kyl couldn't think of which 'candidate' used the phrase. It was GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who happened to be a Republican senator. He and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin made the slogan the 'Republican battle cry' of the 2008 campaign, and Palin repeatedly trumpeted the catchphrase. She even corrected Vice President Biden during their debate when he misquoted the slogan, telling him, 'The chant is 'drill, baby, drill.'' McCain, meanwhile, told a crowd chanting the phrase, 'you're right, pal. Drill, baby, drill. Drill offshore and drill now.'"
The GOP is going to have a tough time walking back the "Drill, Baby, Drill" slogan. There's plenty of video of speeches in which Republican candidates and politicians have use it - thus debunking their revisionist history lesson.
Comments
Drill Baby Drill!
Spill Baby Spill???
Spin Baby Spin!
Thank you so much since the FIRST TIME I heard (I live in FL on the Gulf Coast) I immediately remembered the Republican Bandwagon, and was not happy when Obama was mentioning more drilling. Yet I couldn't find anyone with the Cojones or maybe brain cells to mention it.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!