Republicans strive to turn oil into electoral gold
Thursday, 7 August 2008
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (AFP): The Republicans are in the mire over the economy but by staging an election-year clamor for offshore oil drilling, John McCain's party is taking the fight to a suddenly defensive Barack Obama.
White House hopeful McCain and his party appear to have struck a chord with a hard-pressed public with their demands to throw open US coasts to oil exploration, even if the slick fruits of the endeavor would be years away.
Having for years opposed offshore drilling before changing tack in June, McCain said Monday: "We have to drill here and we have to drill now."
After a week-long Republican offensive, McCain's Democratic opponent softened his position at the weekend, offering a qualified endorsement of coastal drilling as part of a broader energy revolution.
But Obama, and the Democrats as a whole, remained adamant that any oil from expanded drilling is at least a decade away and accused the Republicans of political posturing for short-term gain.
"The economy has been a sea of bad news for Republicans and this is the first island of hope they've found in a long time," former White House adviser William Galston of the Brookings Institution said.
"I don't think the public view is we can solely drill our way out of this. But clearly the Republicans believe that they have a political advantage on this and they are determined to exploit it for all it's worth," he said.
The Democratic candidate went further than his Republican rival by calling Monday for the US government to tap its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, triggering a new round of charges by the McCain camp of political opportunism.
The oil debate has coincided with an avalanche of attack ads by McCain, and the results appear to be showing in tracking polls with the White House race now locked in a dead heat.
White House hopeful McCain and his party appear to have struck a chord with a hard-pressed public with their demands to throw open US coasts to oil exploration, even if the slick fruits of the endeavor would be years away.
Having for years opposed offshore drilling before changing tack in June, McCain said Monday: "We have to drill here and we have to drill now."
After a week-long Republican offensive, McCain's Democratic opponent softened his position at the weekend, offering a qualified endorsement of coastal drilling as part of a broader energy revolution.
But Obama, and the Democrats as a whole, remained adamant that any oil from expanded drilling is at least a decade away and accused the Republicans of political posturing for short-term gain.
"The economy has been a sea of bad news for Republicans and this is the first island of hope they've found in a long time," former White House adviser William Galston of the Brookings Institution said.
"I don't think the public view is we can solely drill our way out of this. But clearly the Republicans believe that they have a political advantage on this and they are determined to exploit it for all it's worth," he said.
The Democratic candidate went further than his Republican rival by calling Monday for the US government to tap its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, triggering a new round of charges by the McCain camp of political opportunism.
The oil debate has coincided with an avalanche of attack ads by McCain, and the results appear to be showing in tracking polls with the White House race now locked in a dead heat.