Bayh says global warming, energy independence are top priorities

CORNISH, N.H. --Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh said Sunday he would make reducing carbon dioxide emissions and increasing American energy independence his top priorities if he were elected president.

He told a few dozen Democrats in the first presidential primary state there is bipartisan interest in the linked issues because Republicans believe alternatives to foreign oil would improve national security and Democrats want to address environmental issues.

"I'd begin with this energy issue, including global warming, because it affects so many important things and because there's some common ground there," he said.

Bayh was hosted by Democratic state senators from Keene and Cornish on Sunday, after speaking at a reception in Manchester on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, a potential rival in the 2008 Democratic primary, drew much larger crowds Sunday in Portsmouth and Manchester.

Bayh has promoted himself as a moderate who can work with Republicans. He said he expected that the new Democratic majorities in Congress would make federal funding for stem cell research one of its top priorities when it convenes in January.

He also acknowledged that Democrats are likely to investigate some Republican policies, such as the conduct of the war in Iraq. But he said the Democrats have a mandate to get things done, and that will come first.

Bayh said he largely agrees with the recently released Iraq Study Group report, which recommends that U.S. forces be withdrawn from most combat operations, while more are assigned to train the Iraqi army and police to complete the transition to Iraqi self-governance.

"My own belief ... is that we need to put pressure on them and tell them, 'Look -- unless you start making these hard decisions, we're not going to stay forever and we're going to begin the process of leaving.' Only by doing that do we maximize the chances of them forging a country," he said.

Unfortunately, President Bush doesn't understand that his promise to keep U.S. troops in Iraq until they are no longer needed has only delayed a solution, Bayh said.

"For three-and-a-half years, we've tried reassuring the Iraqis and telling them we're staying the course basically indefinitely, and that has not led them to making the hard decisions they have to make," he said.