Pumped Up
Do oil and politics mix? As the price of gas tops $3 a gallon, Politicians from the White House on down are hoping they do
Spin city. "It's a dreadful nightmare for the Republicans," says Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who points out that the issue has particular resonance because both President Bush and Vice President Cheney are former oilmen. Democratic memos circulating last week made liberal mention of the task force of energy industry officials that met with Cheney early in the administration, the records of which have been jealously guarded through several lawsuits. "You can spin a lot of conspiracy theories out of that," says Ross Baker, political scientist at Rutgers University.
For his part, President Bush did his best to trade his image as a Texas wildcatter for one as a New Age alternative- fuels booster. He appeared at an ethanol industry meeting to back wider use of the corn alcohol fuel, proposed a modest rollback in tax breaks for the industry, and suspended government purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The latter move was one Bush rejected two years ago when recommended by his 2004 opponent, Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. But now, Bush says, "every little bit helps."
Likewise taking a page out of the Democrats' playbook, Bush and the top Republican leaders on the Hill, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, all called for tough scrutiny of any potential price gouging by the oil industry. The pledge of vigilance came as four large oil companies reported combined quarterly earnings of more than $21 billion, a 6 percent increase from last year. The companies took out full-page newspaper ads urging Americans to view their profits as a windfall for millions of retirement funds and for the nation's energy future.
Cornering Democrats. Republicans also returned to old favorite themes, such as the need to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. Senate Republicans linked their $100 rebate proposal to a planned vote on Alaska drilling this week, hoping to corner Democrats into both voting against taxpayer relief and displaying their steadfast opposition to energy exploration there. Of course, it was moderate Republicans in the last Congress who put the kibosh on further drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.
GOP senators from New England also joined with Democrats last year to block oil refiners from gaining protection from lawsuits for cleanup of the clean-air additive MTBE, particularly in the Northeast. Refiners, as a result, are abruptly halting MTBE use this summer--contributing to high prices because of the changeover's logistics.
With the threat that the summer driving season and hurricanes could push prices even higher, the political peril going into the pivotal November election is great. "I don't think anyone actually believes they can vote for someone who can lower their gas prices," says GOP pollster Fabrizio. "But this is a point of frustration that feeds into the 'throw the bums out' mentality."
With Dan Gilgoff and Rick Newman
advertisement
