The The Times finally realizes that energy policy is important to voters, especially those in the strongly independent and frigid lands of New Hampshire. Independents make up 40-some-odd percent of the state's voters, and their concerns about the rising costs of energy seem to be driving their voting decisions pretty strongly. But what the Times doesn't point out is that the Republican candidates have completely avoided talking about energy policy in the primaries, outside of a few hollow pledges to make the country "energy independent" -- even John McCain, who looks to fare well with New Hampshire independents today. McCain has been making some last ditch efforts to convince the good voters of New Hampshire that he's deeply committed to energy independence, and that he would work on both energy policy and its correlating concern, climate change, an issue he was once a leader on.
Instead, the Times reporter accepts the premise that all the candidates have "disappointingly vague approaches to energy policy or, worse, little interest in the subject." Actually, the Democrats all have solid energy plans encompassed within their policy proposals for addressing climate change, though they haven't been spending nearly enough time talking about them. Their plans propose methods of creating a new green economy that weans us off foreign oil, drastically expanding our use of alternative energy sources, and creating millions of new jobs -- exactly the sort of initiatives these voters want to hear about.
This is a major concern for independent voters outside of New Hampshire as well. As focus groups on climate and energy in Tucson, Ariz. found, independent and swing voters there are very concerned about how the candidates are going to deal with energy concerns. Which is why the Democrats should be doing a better job of emphasizing the all the energy policy embedded in their climate plans. I could blame media like the Times for largely ignoring the issue, but the Democrats deserve some derision too for not pushing their plans. They've neglected discussion of their energy and climate policies in the primary, to their own detriment with these voters, despite having solid plans.
--Kate Sheppard
