Oil spill politics may hurt both parties - Josh Gerstein and Carol E. Lee - POLITICO.com

Oil spill politics may hurt both parties - Josh Gerstein and Carol E. Lee - POLITICO.com: "alk about an I-told-you-so moment.

President Barack Obama was put on the defensive over oil Friday – as a fast-growing spill in the Gulf of Mexico forced the White House to reassure the public that Obama’s plans for expanded offshore drilling won’t proceed without a full review of this accident.

The spill gives fellow Democrats and environmentalists who objected to Obama’s plan a vivid piece of evidence to use against it, as Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said the notion of expanded drilling is ‘dead on arrival’ on Capitol Hill.

But Republicans who are usually quick to criticize Obama have barely raised a peep over his handling of the crisis – even as the White House scrambles to deflect questions over why it took nine days to understand the full extent of the spill.

The Republican reticence is a sign that the political danger over the oil spill cuts both ways, especially for a party that made ‘drill baby drill’ a chant at its presidential convention. "