As Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama and 14 of their friends and family took off for Hawaii Friday morning, the RNC found a way to take a swipe at the candidate’s energy policy - even as he takes a break from the campaign trail.

“In addition to plenty of beaches and sun, Barack Obama will see some of the highest gas prices in the country when he vacations in Hawaii,” RNC spokesman Alex Conant wrote in an email to reporters. “Obama deserves a break from the campaign trail, just like Americans deserve a break from high gas prices. Obama’s opposition to offshore drilling will only make it harder for Americans to afford their own family vacations.”

According to the AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge, Hawaiians pay an average of $4.466 per gallon. Obama, of course, will travel around the island in a motorcade provided by the United States Secret Service.

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The McCain campaign is urging voters to make sure their car tires are properly inflated to save gasoline but only half-heartedly.

Campaign adviser Mark Salter distributed tire pressure gauges labeled “Obama’s Energy Plan” to the press corps aboard the campaign plane this morning.

When Obama first suggested last week that Americans could save on energy costs and gasoline by making sure their tires are filled to the correct PSI, Republicans latched on to the remarks, and have not let go ever since. McCain campaign surrogates have been passing out tire gauges across the country during the last few days insisting that tire pressure amounts to the Democrat’s entire energy policy.

For his part, McCain said he agreed with Obama’s suggestion during a town hall Thursday but has also mocked the Democrat’s line as symbolic of his energy plan.

“We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore and we need it now. He has consistently opposed it. He has opposed nuclear power. He has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage. And the only thing I’ve heard him say is that we should inflate our tires. So he has no plan for addressing the energy challenges that we face,” McCain said Friday during a Panama City press conference.

Obama is announcing his own comprehensive plan today with a wide range of potential solutions to the nation’s energy crisis but don’t expect that to stop Camp McCain from hammering home the tire press suggestions over and over again for the next three months.

UPDATE–The McCain campaign is offering you your own Obama tire pressure gauge for a $25 donation. See the latest email to supporters from Campaign Manager Rick Davis below.

CAMPAIGN EMAIL:

McCain Team -

Americans across the country are feeling the effects of high gas prices and our need to expand domestic oil production.

John McCain says we need offshore oil drilling and we need it now. Senator Barack Obama has consistently opposed offshore drilling - calling it a “gimmick.” Senator Obama’s solution to high gas prices is telling Americans to make sure their tires are inflated.

Today, I’m asking for your help in putting Senator Obama’s “tire gauge” energy policy to the test. With an immediate donation of $25 or more, we will send you an “Obama Energy Plan” tire pressure gauge. Will simply inflating your tires reduce the financial burden of high gas prices on your wallet?

It’s clear Senator Obama has no plan to address the energy challenges we face as a nation. He has said no to offshore drilling, no to expanding domestic drilling and no to nuclear energy. He has no plan to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

John McCain is prepared to lead our country as president to break our dependence on foreign oil with real solutions. John McCain believes we should lift the federal ban on offshore drilling, enabling you to decide where we drill for oil.

(more…)

The McCain campaign released a new web video Wednesday that creatively encapsulates their new message, casting Barack Obama as “Dr. No” when it comes to energy.

With James Bondesque music playing in the background, the ad showcases Obama’s opposition to a number of McCain energy initiatives including offshore drilling and increased use of nuclear power.

But the GOPer has his work out cut out for him as the most recent poll, conducted before McCain’s recent energy push, has him down by 20 points on who Americans think can best deal with gas prices–50% to 30%.

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NASHUA, NH — Sen. McCain continued to play a man of the people on high gas prices Thursday, taking Sen. Obama to task for saying this week that he would have preferred a more “gradual adjustment” in gas price increases.

“Let me say that Senator Obama said yesterday, well he didn’t seem to mind the cost increase, it was just a little too quick,” McCain told supporters at a Granite State town hall meeting. “Well, a lot of Americans mind.”

Asked by CNBC Tuesday if higher gas prices could help the U.S. become more energy efficient, Obama said, “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.”

Republicans have been hammering Obama for the comments, arguing that the Illinois Democrat lacks sympathy for the plight of average Americans who are now paying more than $4 a gallon to fill up their gas tanks.

“I think I’d like to point out that Senator McCain is not out of touch with the pressure on gasoline prices,”  McCain adviser Doug Holtz-Eakin said a conference call today. “He proposed a gas tax suspension for the summer that would put $600 in the pocket of a trucker buying diesel fuel, take some of the pressure off the price increases of all the things that they deliver, help American families get through the summer.”

For it’s part, the Obama campaign is arguing that the GOP is taking the quote out of context.

“This attack is ridiculous, and all it shows is how John McCain’s allies in Washington are trying to distract voters from the fact that just yesterday, they voted again to protect Big Oil’s profits-while we’re paying record prices…. No amount of partisan political attacks will change the fact that George Bush, John McCain, and their congressional allies have repeatedly stood with the oil and gas companies and against American consumers,” Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki said yesterday.

When asked by CNBC yesterday if record oil prices could actually help the U.S., Obama replied, “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.”

Republicans took note of this and responded as top Party leaders spoke out in Washington today.

“Yesterday we heard the Democrat nominee for president suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor. “The position outlined by the Democratic nominee shouldn’t be a surprise to most Americans, given that Washington Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow increased energy production here at home — even though, as we all know, increased supply leads to lower prices,” he continued.

On the House side, Minority Leader John Boehner dramatically added, “If Obama really thinks consumers ought to shoulder higher energy costs while we make the transition to alternative fuels, he should answer a simple question: how high should gas prices go? $5? $6? $10 a gallon?”

The Obama campaign calls the attack “ridiculous.” Said spokesperson Jen Psaki on the attacks, “It shows is how John McCain’s allies in Washington are trying to distract voters from the fact that just yesterday, they voted again to protect Big Oil’s profits—while we’re paying record prices. Senator McConnell knows exactly what Barack Obama meant: the huge strain caused by high gas prices is made even worse when they climb so quickly. No amount of partisan political attacks will change the fact that George Bush, John McCain, and their congressional allies have repeatedly stood with the oil and gas companies and against American consumers.”

Candidate Obama did not support the oft debated gas tax holiday that McCain proposed and told voters the “gimmick” would save drivers just a few cents a day. Rather, Obama has said on the stump that a quick fix won’t do. Back on the primary trail in Pennsylvania, Obama told voters “the only way we are going to deal with this long term is to reduce our consumption of oil.”

To do that, Obama would encourage and invest in green technologies and alternative fuels and increase fuel efficiency standards. “If we increase fuel efficiency standards on cars to 40 miles per gallon, we would save the equivalent of all the oil we import from the Persian Gulf. And imagine what that would do to gas prices if we reduced our consumption by that much. That’s something we can accomplish right here and right now,” he said at an April town hall in Wilkes Barre, PA.

JUNCTION CITY, Ore — Hillary Clinton says she’s going forward with her long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination until everyone has a chance to vote — and today claimed the lead in at least one measure of presidential preference.

“I’m ahead in the popular vote,” she said at an economic roundtable, after resident Sandy Mehlbrech urged her to stay in the race. “I’ve got about 50,000 more votes, which is really exciting because that’s important.”

While Senator Clinton does indeed lead in the popular vote if every state is counted, most tallies leave off Florida and Michigan, since the candidates were forbidden from campaigning there and their delegates were stripped by the DNC. Obama’s name wasn’t on the ballot in Michigan, further complicating Clinton’s claim.

While she’s an underdog in Oregon, where residents mail in their presidential ballots, Sen Clinton said she had reason to be optimistic. “I heard, I don’t know if this is the latest news, but that most ballots are still out. People are trying to make up their minds,” she said. “Obviously I hope to persuade those of you who haven’t sent in your ballots in Oregon to consider supporting me.”

The rest of the event focused on economic issues, particularly the effect high gas prices arw having on working folks in the state. Sen Clinton placed the blame on President Bush. “As we’re sitting here in this lovely home, President Bush is over in Saudi Arabia having tea with the Saudi leaders, trying to persuade them to either increase supply or lower price. That’s his energy policy,” she said. “I don’t think it’s good energy policy to depend on the kindness of the Saudis and the other OPEC nations, and basically have tea with them while businesses and individuals try to figure out how to afford nearly $4 a gallon gas and $5 a gallon diesel.”

“The Saudis may decide we need to do something to help out President Bush, but that’s just a short term fix that is not going to have any long term consequences. We just have to take a different apprach if we’re going to get serious.”

done

WILMINGTON, NC — Senator Hillary Clinton said she’d be willing to temporarily lift the federal tax on gasoline to ease prices at the pump — but only if the money could be made up elsewhere.

“I think we should look seriously at having a gas tax holiday as long as we can make up the lost revenues for the highway trust fund,” she said. “I think we can do that if we put a temporary windfall profits tax on the oil companies. We could actually take the cost off the drivers.”

Clinton joins what’s become a heated back and forth between John McCain, who supports the tax holiday, and her Democratic rival Barack Obama, who opposes it and calls it “one of John McCain’s latest schemes.” The RNC says Obama has flip flopped on the issue since leaving the Illinois State Senate, where the state gasoline tax was temporarily suspended in 2000 with Obama’s support.

Clinton aides say she differs from McCain in that she’d pay for her tax break, “not raid the highway trust fund.” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds argues that the Arizona Senator’s plan “would have no effect on the existing Highway Trust Fund or transportation infrastructure,” saying “the expense would be covered from general federal revenues that would be offset by a substantial trimming of  wasteful government spending.”

She’s expected to take on Obama on the gas tax holiday at her first event in Graham, NC on Monday.