Clinton joins McCain in hitting Obama on gas tax

GRAHAM, N.C. - Hillary Clinton criticized Barack Obama yesterday for opposing the concept of suspending the gas tax during the peak summer driving months, a plan both she and Republican John McCain have endorsed.

The idea to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day was first proposed by McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee, as a way to ease the economic burden for consumers during the summer.

Obama does not support the "gas tax holiday" and has said the average motorist would not benefit significantly from such a suspension; by some estimates, the federal government would lose about $10 billion in revenue.

"My opponent, Senator Obama, opposes giving consumers a break," Clinton said, campaigning in North Carolina. "I understand the American people need some relief."

Clinton said, unlike McCain, she has a plan to pay for the gas tax suspension - by imposing a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies. "If we suspended it and made up the lost revenues, that's the best of both worlds," she said.

Obama ignored Clinton and criticized McCain instead, saying his proposal would save motorists only about $25 or $30. "That's his big solution," Obama told several thousand people at a noisy rally in Wilmington, N.C. "He had the gall yesterday to tell me that because I don't agree with his plan, I must not be sympathetic to poor people. This is at the same time as he is proposing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for corporate interests, for the wealthiest Americans."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Democratic National Committee is attacking McCain in a second TV ad. And the Republican National Committee is objecting again, saying it is not only inaccurate but illegal.

The new ad hits McCain for comments he made in January at a New Hampshire town hall meeting where he said that US troops could be in Iraq for 100 years. Democrats have jumped on McCain, saying it shows that he would indefinitely continue an unpopular war.

"If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future?" the narrator asks.

But McCain and Republicans say his remarks have been distorted. What he is really talking about, they say, is an extended presence of peacekeepers, as in South Korea, who wouldn't take casualties. Those portions of his remarks don't appear in the ad.

Yesterday, the RNC said the ad is maliciously false and urged networks not to air it. "It is unquestionable that the DNC is deliberately misleading the American people about what Senator McCain actually said," RNC chairman Mike Duncan said in a statement.

The RNC also accused the DNC of running an illegally coordinated campaign with the Democratic presidential candidates.

The same issue is the basis for the Republican Party in Virginia filing a formal complaint yesterday with the Federal Election Commission over the DNC's first anti-McCain ad, attacking him for suggesting that the economy has improved during the Bush presidency. The ad, however, does not show McCain later acknowledging that times are tough now for many American families.

FOON RHEE

MIAMI - McCain criticized his Democratic rivals yesterday for what he called a "big government" approach to healthcare and said he would focus on reducing costs and increasing coverage.

McCain launched a weeklong campaign swing on his healthcare plans with a visit to a Miami children's hospital and a talk with parents of ill children who have been forced to endure long struggles with care and costs.

"America can have a healthcare system that is characterized by better prevention, coordinated care, electronic health records, cutting-edge treatments, and lower costs," McCain said.

Both Democrats have set a goal of universal healthcare coverage for the estimated 47 million Americans without insurance. Clinton would mandate some form of coverage for all individuals, while Obama would mandate only coverage for children.

McCain's plan, released last year, does not include a mandate requiring coverage. It features a tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families. It would make it possible to buy coverage through any organization, reducing but not eliminating the reliance on employer-provided plans.

REUTERS

The polls are starting to show a post-Pennsylvania bump for Clinton and could buttress her argument to voters in Indiana and North Carolina that she would be the stronger Democratic nominee in November.

In an Associated Press/Ipsos survey released yesterday, Clinton led McCain 50 percent to 41 percent in a hypothetical matchup, while Obama remained virtually tied with McCain, 46 percent to 44 percent. Both Democrats were roughly even with McCain in the previous poll about three weeks ago. Among Democrats, Obama still led Clinton 46 percent to 43 percent, however.

In the Gallup daily tracking poll, Clinton led McCain 47 to 44 percent while Obama and McCain are tied at 45 percent. Also, Obama held a 47 percent to 46 percent lead over Clinton among Democrats in the tracking poll - a 5-percentage-point gain for Clinton since she won the Pennsylvania primary last Tuesday.

FOON RHEE