McCain presses for US drilling

ARLINGTON, Va. - Senator John McCain said yesterday the federal moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling should be lifted, and individual states given the right to pursue energy exploration in waters near their own coasts.

With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the presumptive Republican nominee said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."

McCain also suggested giving the states incentives, including a greater share of royalties paid by companies that drill for oil, as an incentive to permit exploration.

Asked how far offshore states should be given control of drilling rights, he said that was a matter for negotiation. He offered no other details for his proposal, which he is expected to describe more fully in an energy speech today.

The current ban on offshore drilling covers an estimated 80 percent of US coastal waters. The Senate last month rejected a GOP energy plan, 56 to 42, that included a provision similar to McCain's proposal.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

While Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are statistically even in Gallup's latest daily tracking poll, a Gallup survey released yesterday shows that a clear majority of Americans believe Obama will win in November.

He leads in that perception measure 52 percent to 41 percent, with 76 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents predicting an Obama victory. Two-thirds of Republicans said they believe McCain, who described himself as the underdog yesterday, will win.

While Obama's support during the primaries was skewed toward younger voters, they are the least optimistic that America will elect its first black president. Only 48 percent of those 18 to 34 said they believe Obama will win, while 52 percent of those between 35 and 54 did. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll released today, Obama leads McCain among all voters by 49 percent to 45 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

FOON RHEE

John McCain, continuing to press his case for town hall meetings, offered to get together with Barack Obama next month at a Hispanic group's conference both plan to attend.

Both have RSVP'd for the convention of the National Council of La Raza, a leading Latino civil rights and advocacy group, in San Diego July 12-15. While they are there, they should hold a joint event to answer voters' questions, McCain told reporters yesterday at his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va.

FOON RHEE

Democrats continued to hammer John McCain yesterday over a Texas money man, Clayton Williams, who notoriously compared rape to bad weather in an off-color quip during a 1990 campaign against Governor Ann Richards.

McCain's campaign initially canceled the fund-raising event, scheduled for today. Then, it said it would keep the $300,000-plus Williams had raised, saying it had come from supporters, not the oilman himself. Then, the campaign said the event had been postponed, not entirely canceled. The latest is that the event will happen, only without Williams, who said in 1990 about rape: "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

At his press event yesterday, McCain said his staff did not know about that comment by Williams before scheduling the fund-raiser.

"Senator McCain once again chose to put his political ambitions ahead of his principles," said Karen Finney, the Democratic National Committee spokeswoman, in a statement.

FOON RHEE