McCain calls U.S. dependence on foreign oil dangerous

Sen. John McCain vowed Wednesday to break the partisan deadlock on energy policy, saying the dependence on foreign oil puts the U.S. in a “dangerous situation.”

“When we buy foreign oil, we are enriching some of our worst enemies,” he said in Las Vegas, Nevada.

McCain said that if he were to become president, he would put the country “on a course to energy security.”

“Three decades of partisan paralysis on energy security is enough. Since I am not president, I cannot say the buck stops here, but I will say that it must stop now,” he said.

McCain said he would “authorize and support new exploration and production of America’s own oil and gas reserves, because we can’t outsource the solution to America’s energy problem.”

McCain proposed lifting the ban on offshore drilling last week as part of his plan to reduce dependence on foreign oil and help combat rising gas prices.

Officials from many coastal states oppose offshore drilling because of the risk of oil spills. Environmentalists want to stop offshore drilling to protect oceans and beaches from further pollution.

McCain also recommended looking at nuclear power, calling it a “long-neglected source of energy.”

The senator from Arizona reiterated his push for a car battery that would move vehicles away from running on gasoline. He has proposed a $300 million reward for the development of a battery that far surpasses existing technology.

“America’s dependence on foreign oil was a troubling situation 35 years ago. It was an alarming situation 20 years ago. It’s a dangerous situation today. And starting in the term of the next president, we must take control over our own energy future and become once again the master of our fate,” he said.

Polling, and how people pick their party

Today’s poll story showing Barack Obama with a 12-point lead over John McCain drew almost as much reaction from readers for what it had to say about voters’ party affiliation as for what it said about the candidates’ popularity.

The questions centered on this passage in the story: “In this national poll’s random sample of voters, 39% identified themselves as Democrats, 22% as Republicans and 27% as independents. In a similar poll a year ago, 33% identified themselves as Democrats, 28% as Republicans and 30% as independents.”

Susan Pinkus, director of the Times Poll, and Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief, respond to the readers’ concerns:

The result for self-described Democrats seems high, acknowledged Pinkus, but, she wrote in an e-mail to readers, “This is what the poll got from a random sample of 1,233 adults nationwide, including 1,115 registered voters (which includes listed, unlisted and cell phone users).”

McManus, who reported the poll results in the front-page article, explained it in an e-mail he sent to readers who asked. He wrote, “Please note that this question is not about how people are registered. It’s about how voters identify themselves when asked, ‘Regardless of your party registration or how you have voted in the past, do you think of yourself today as a Democrat, or a Republican, or an independent, or as something else?’” The answers to that question often ebb and flow depending on the popularity of each political party.”

Clinton gets back to work in Senate

WASHINGTON – As she returned to the Senate for the first time since ending her campaign to become the nation’s first woman president, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that her goal was simply to be the best senator she could. “I am rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work,” she said.

Yet despite being New York’s junior senator, ranking only 68th out of 100 in seniority without any promise of a leadership position, a committee chairmanship or even a bigger office, it was clear that Clinton will be a far more prominent figure than the usual measures might suggest.

She retains the loyalty of millions of supporters, having drawn 18 million votes before conceding the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama three weeks ago. She and her husband, Bill, remain among the country’s best-known political figures, and her words and actions will be sifted like tea leaves in the coming general election and beyond.

Acknowledging her new position, Democratic colleagues gave her a standing ovation when she arrived at their weekly lunch meeting.

Her husband chose the day of her return to take a step toward trying to end any bitterness between the Clinton and Obama camps, saying in statement that he was “committed to doing whatever he can and is asked to do to ensure Senator Obama is the next president of the United States.”

As early as Friday, Hillary Clinton will be back on the national stage, joining Obama in a symbolic visit to the New Hampshire town of Unity, where she and the Illinois senator each received 107 votes in the primary.As Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who campaigned for her in his state’s May primary and was on hand Tuesday, put it, “I don’t think she’ll enter the witness protection program.”

“She has so much to contribute. . . . I hope she’ll embrace this opportunity, and I think she will,” Bayh said.

In remarks at the Senate Democrats’ meeting, Clinton appealed for party unity and pledged to work to elect Obama to the White House as well as to expand the party’s Senate majority.

Although she missed a vote on a housing bill Tuesday, Clinton was greeted with cheers and waves as she made her way up the steps of the Capitol. Dressed in a bright turquoise suit, she looked upbeat as she paused to shake hands with interns.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, said it was a myth that coming back to the Senate after running for president was difficult.

“Once you’ve picked yourself up and dusted yourself off, you find that you’re a much better and more effective senator because you ran for president,” he said. “You’ve seen so much more of the country and thought through the issues differently because you’ve actually thought through how to represent states very different from your own.”

McCain’s Fine Line of Security

Riverside, Calif. — One of Sen. John McCain’s main strategies for overcoming the deficit he and his party face in opinion polls is to make the election about national security and terrorism.

That approach helped the Republican presidential candidate emerge victorious from the primary field, and the topic remains the top issue on which he bests his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama.

Even so, Sen. McCain risks accusations from Democrats that he is following the Bush administration by playing into the politics of fear.

Hollywood stars come out to support Obama

Barack Obama raised nearly $5 million Tuesday night at a celebrity-packed fundraiser that was the equivalent of the entertainment industry’s coming-out party for the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

“He’s my candidate, and I think you have to put your money where your mouth is,” actor Don Cheadle said.

Obama’s campaign refused to say how many millions he and the Democratic National Committee raised at the gala, but Democratic officials put the number at close to $5 million. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the numbers publicly.

Campaign officials limited media access to the event at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. No TV cameras or photographers were allowed inside.

Obama, who is counting on Hollywood’s support for Democrats, appealed to the those in the crowd who might have supported his former foe, Hillary Clinton. The long primary, he said, “I know caused some heartburn and some frustration.” He said he and Clinton “were allies then and we’re allies now.”

Also on Tuesday, Obama asked his finance team to help Clinton pay off a debt of at least $10 million from her failed presidential campaign, setting the stage for joint appearances by the two former rivals later in the week.

In a teleconference with his top fundraisers Tuesday afternoon, Obama asked them to do what they could to help Clinton, according to two Democrats familiar with the call.