Fuel costs squeeze both candidates

Source: Agencies  |   2008-7-1  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

NINETY percent of Americans are feeling the economic squeeze of rising fuel prices, according to a poll released yesterday, but many voters think neither Barack Obama nor John McCain would be able to do much about it if elected president.

The Associated Press-Yahoo News poll underscored why Obama, a Democrat, and McCain, a Republican, have sought to differentiate themselves on energy ahead of the November election.

The survey highlights how energy costs have overtaken the Iraq war and terrorism as the dominant issue in the presidential campaign.

With the July 4 Independence Day holiday weekend approaching, the poll showed Americans were driving less, curtailing vacation plans and thinking about buying a car that uses less fuel.

While the AP-Yahoo poll showed a third of Americans felt both McCain and Obama would be unable to have much effect on fuel prices, those who did gave Obama a 28-percent to 20-percent edge over McCain, while 18 percent said they trusted the candidates equally.

McCain recently changed his position on the quarter-century US ban on drilling for oil and gas in offshore waters, saying states should be allowed to open those resources to oil companies if they wished. He has also called for a major push to develop nuclear power and said he would give a US$300 million prize to the developer of a battery capable of efficiently powering automobiles.

Obama has focused on increased spending for alternative energy sources funded in part by taxes on excess oil company profits and closing a legal loophole that he says has led to speculation on energy markets and driven prices to record levels.

Plans offered by both presidential candidates were unlikely to have any immediate impact on soaring energy costs. The price of oil topped US$143 a barrel for the first time yesterday in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.