I'm reasonably sure that Mr. McCain's advisers realize that offshore drilling would do nothing for current gas prices. But they may believe that the public can be conned. A Rasmussen poll taken before Mr. McCain's announcement suggests that the public favors expanded offshore drilling,and believes (wrongly) that this would lower gasoline prices.
Mr. McCain may also hope to shore up his still fragile relations with the Republican base. As anyone who has read what's in his inbox after publishing an article on oil prices can testify, there are many people on the right who believe that all our energy problems have been caused by sanctimonious tree-huggers. Mr. McCain has just thrown that constituency some red meat.
But I very much doubt that Mr. McCain's gambit will work. In fact, it's almost certainly self-destructive.
To have a chance in November, Mr. McCain has to convince voters that he isn't just Bush, continued. Energy policy is one of the areas where he could best have made that case.
Instead, he has ceded the high ground on energy to Mr. Obama, and linked himself firmly to the most unpopular president on record.
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