Obama calls suspension of gas tax a political stunt
Barack Obama yesterday dismissed a proposed summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax as a political stunt that could cost thousands of construction jobs, including 6,000 in Indiana.
"It's a shell game. Literally," Obama said to laughter from his audience in Munster, Ind.
He also accused Clinton and Republican John McCain of "reading from the same political playbook" by endorsing the idea. "This is a plan that would save you pennies a day for the summer months. That is unless gas prices are raised to fill in the gap," Obama said.
And he launched a new TV ad in Indiana replying to what his campaign calls "another negative ad" from Clinton that accuses him of ignoring the pain at the gas pump.
The ad calls the idea "an election year gimmick," then highlights Obama's long-range plan to deal with record-high gas prices, which in broad strokes is similar to Clinton's.
As a short-term fix, Clinton is proposing a summer gas tax holiday that would suspend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal levy, to be paid for by imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies. The proposal is a rarity in the marathon battle for the Democratic nomination - a clear-cut policy difference between Obama and Clinton, and it is playing out in the final days before Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
Clinton yesterday reiterated her support for the gas tax suspension, and called for a vote in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
"All I hear about is gas prices. Gas and diesel, everywhere," she said at a John Deere tractor dealership in Kinston, N.C. "Some people say we don't need to get a gas tax holiday at all, it's a gimmick. . . . I want the Congress to stand up and vote. Are they for the oil companies, or are they for you?"
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ex-DNC chair from Mass. throws support to Obama
Paul G. Kirk Jr., a Democratic superdelegate from Massachusetts, officially declared his support for Barack Obama yesterday, becoming the second former Democratic National Committee chairman in two days to back Obama.
Obama is closing Hillary Clinton's lead among superdelegates - the only count on which he trails her in the nomination race.
"Senator Obama is the one candidate who has and will continue to expand the electorate beyond the traditional Democratic Party base and bring young and new and Independent voters to the Democratic banner in November, an essential ingredient to a Democratic victory," Kirk said in a statement issued by the Obama campaign.
The Clinton campaign said Kirk had been previously put in Obama's camp, and argued that his campaign announced the endorsement now in its "zeal to divert attention from their recent troubles" - an apparent reference to the controversy surrounding his former pastor, whom Obama repudiated this week.
The Clinton camp announced the support of superdelegate Jaime A. Gonzalez Jr. of Texas and released a letter from seven other former DNC leaders to committee members, who make up a sizable chunk of superdelegates, telling them that "too much is at stake not to consider deeply" the choice of a nominee.
"Hillary can win our party's nomination. . . . Her base of support includes women, Hispanics, seniors, Catholics, middle and low-income Americans, and rural, suburban, and urban voters," they write. "That's a formidable coalition tailor-made for victory in a November general election."
FOON RHEE
Indianapolis Star endorses Clinton as 'well prepared'
In the stretch run of the Indiana primary race, Hillary Clinton won the support yesterday of the state's largest newspaper, which called her "well prepared for the rigors of the White House" and "tough, experienced, and realistic about what can and cannot be accomplished on the world stage."
The Indianapolis Star praised Barack Obama's eloquence and ability to connect with voters "many who formerly felt disenfranchised," but said, "His inexperience in high office is a liability." It also criticized Clinton, saying she was pandering to voters by proposing a summer gas tax holiday - an idea panned by many economists and considered unlikely to pass in Congress.
But in what is described as a "difficult choice," the newspaper's editorial board said Clinton's "years of high-level experience" give her the edge.
The next president "will take office at a time of extraordinary risk for this nation, both at home and abroad," including "a sagging economy, rising energy and food costs, the gap in healthcare, wars in two countries, and threats from Iran," the endorsement editorial said. "Hillary Clinton is the better choice, based on her experience and grasp of major issues, to confront those challenges."
FOON RHEE 