An early dividend from today’s GOP House revolt? Nah. Obama’s simply on the wrong side of this issue politically and he knows it. And thanks to savvy Dems like Ken Salazar who think it’s a good idea to shrug off the prospect of $10 gas live with C-SPAN cameras rolling, Barry’s room to maneuver is narrowing by the day. Now that there’s momentum in the Senate for a compromise energy bill, the last partisan excuse to resist is disintegrating as we speak.

Let’s not call it a flip-flop. Rather, let’s borrow from his Iraq rhetoric and call it … a tactical readjustment.

Shifting from his previous opposition to expanded offshore drilling, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get behind a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy…

“My interest is in making sure we’ve got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices,” Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post.

“If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage — I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

Reminds me of his Iraq hedging, right down to the maneuver-preserving choice of adjective (“we need to be as careful getting out…”). Exit question: Given that McCain is also open to alternative fuels, have we reached yet another unlikely meeting of the minds?