McCain-Obama Clash On Energy Policy Spills Over Onto Capitol Hill

By Daniel W. Reilly

(The Politico)  Lawmakers from both parties traded jabs over their respective presidential nominee’s energy policy on Tuesday, as the campaign fight over rising gas prices continues to escalate.

Throughout the day, Congressional Republicans used Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) call to lift the ban on oil and gas exploration as a reason to hammer presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over his own energy policy, which they say doesn't do enough to produce domestic energy.

The Obama camp quickly pushed back, as both sides prepared for a long, hot summer of voter frustration over high gas prices.

"John McCain's plan to simply drill our way out of our energy crisis is the same misguided approach backed by President Bush that has failed our families for too long and only serves to benefit the big oil companies," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan told the Washington Post on Tuesday.

In recent days, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has seized on a comment Obama made in an interview with CNBC in which he said Americans "would have preferred a gradual adjustment" in gas prices instead of a major spike.

“We all know that gas prices are the number one issue in the country and the Democratic nominee for president said he is not troubled by $4 per gallon gas, but concerned about how quickly we got there,” McConnell said on Tuesday. “I think most Americans believe that $4 gas is too much, whether we got there quickly or slowly.”
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