Energy could be the meal ticket the Democrats need

From Bill Schneider
CNN Senior Political Analyst

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate gives Democrats a seat at the table. What they need now is a meal ticket -- an issue that could bring them back to power.

How about energy? It is President Bush's greatest vulnerability and it could be the wedge issue Democrats need to take control of Congress next year.

In Chinese, the word for crisis is the same as the word for opportunity. The Bush administration sees an opportunity in California's energy crisis -- an opportunity to say, "We told you so."

"They knew a year ago they had problems," Vice President Dick Cheney told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently, referring to the Clinton administration and California officials. "They postponed taking action because all of the action is potentially unpleasant."

It was opportunity to score points for free markets.

"The energy plan I lay out for the nation harnesses the power of modern markets," Bush told an audience in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month.

Then came an opportunity to send a message about the need for energy production.

"The problems in California show that you cannot conserve your way to energy independence," Bush said later in Conestoga, Pennsylvania.

For the Bush administration, the energy problem is an opportunity to teach the country a lesson about economics. Fair enough. But the issue may give Democrats and even greater opportunity.

That is because politics is a short-term business. The crisis is now. People want help, now. It is becoming the Democrats' mantra.

"We understand long term in California, and we understand short term," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-California. "Whether my constituents are Republicans, Democrats or Independents, they need price relief."

Does Bush's plan offer any short-term relief from soaring energy prices? The American people do not see it. Nearly two-thirds say Bush's energy plan will help, but only after several years. Fewer than 10 percent see any immediate relief.

What kind of immediate relief do Democrats want? Price controls. "Oh, no," says the Bush administration. "That will just make the problem worse."

In the long run, that may be true. But the problem is now.

"I am not for price controls over the long haul. But we had them in place for three months last fall. They were working fine," California's Democratic Gov. Gray Davis said on CNN.

Even in Texas -- nudge, nudge; wink, wink.

"Texas this year adopted price relief until 2003," Davis said. "We're just asking to be treated as well as Texas is being treated, because we are witnessing a massive transfer of wealth from California to Houston."

Does the Bush plan offer any kind of short-term relief for California?

"My administration is committed to helping California," Bush said in St. Paul. "We're helping right now by expediting permits for new power production and by working as good partners to reduce our electricity at federal facilities."

And Democrats reply, "So what?"

"We're told we may be heading into a summer of $3 per gallon gasoline and rolling blackouts," said soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota. "Yet the Bush-Cheney plan offers virtually no immediate relief for energy consumers."

In a crisis, Americans do not want lessons. They want help. Republicans have not quite grasped that fact. Democrats have.