Struggling to stay on message

Both presumptive presidential nominees wanted to talk energy today -- Democrat Barack Obama about the promise of "green" jobs, Republican John McCain about the need for action on global warming.

But their campaigns will be hard-pressed to stay on message with controversies lurking.

McCain is trying to get past a gaffe by top adviser Charlie Black, who told Fortune magazine that another terrorist attack on US soil would "be a big advantage" to the Arizona senator, who is touting his national security credentials. Black on Monday issued a statement of regret, and McCain distanced himself from the remarks. But Obama's campaign stoked the furor with a conference call with Sept. 11 Commission member Richard Ben-Veniste.

Obama, meanwhile, faced an assault from evangelical Christian leader James Dobson, who accuses him of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution. The criticism was aired today on Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program. The group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which highlights a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama, who is trying to reach out to evangelical voters, mentions Dobson in the speech.

"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson says in the radio program, according to the AP. "... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, said on MSNBC this morning that Dobson's statement is "odd and curious."

In Las Vegas, Obama promoted his proposal for a $1,000 tax cut that would reach 95 percent of all workers, saying it offers much more relief than McCain's proposal for a gas tax holiday.

Obama also highlighted his alternative energy proposals as a better bet than McCain's call for lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling. Obama says he would raise the fuel efficiency standards for vehicles and invest $150 billion over the next decade in wind power, solar power, and advanced biofuels, creating up to five million new jobs.

In Santa Barbara, Calif., McCain highlighted his support for a "cap-and-trade" system to limit carbon emissions and his backing of energy conservation.

McCain also pledged that if elected, he would push the federal government to change its vehicle fleet and office buildings to be more "green" technologies, and called for a redesign of the national power grid, in part to supply more electric cars.

Obama, however, hit McCain for telling a town hall meeting Monday in Fresno that while offshore drilling wouldn't lower gas prices for years, "the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have psychological impact that I think is beneficial."

Replied Obama: "Psychological impact. In case you were wondering, in Washington-speak what that means is, 'It polls well.' "

"It’s an example of how Washington politicians try to convince you that they did something to make your life better when they really didn’t. Well the American people don’t need psychological relief or meaningless gimmicks to get politicians through the next election, they need real relief that will help them fill up their tanks and put food on their table. They need a long-term energy strategy that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the renewable sources of energy that represent the future."