Webb sides with McCain on drilling
posted at 12:05 pm on June 20, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Maybe Jim Webb doesn’t want to be Barack Obama’s running mate. While the Democratic nominee continues to insist on a no-drilling policy on the outer continental shelf, Virginia’s freshman Senator has put his name on a bill that would allow states to make that determination for themselves. In doing so, he’s arguing for the approach favored by Obama’s rival:
By pushing a bill that distances himself from the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate on offshore drilling, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia is picking a curious time to exercise his well-known independence.
Webb wants his home state to have the right to explore for energy off Virginia’s coast. His staff insists his proposal pertains only to natural gas, and not oil, and that it is completely in line with the state’s other two leading Democrats — Gov. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner, who is running for Senate.
Yet by attaching his name to the bill, sponsored by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), Webb is taking a step away from Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the party’s presidential candidate, who opposes offshore drilling, and one closer to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the GOP standard-bearer who recently called for lifting the federal ban.
The Hill notes that McCain’s ally, Lindsey Graham, lept to connect Webb to McCain’s policy on this, joking that “Webb is right sometimes.” Kathryn Jean Lopez at The Corner asks whether the VP rumors connected to Webb may concern the wrong ticket. It certainly seems odd that Webb would choose this moment to publicly oppose his party’s nominee on a big issue in the general election, if Webb wants to become Obama’s running mate.
One could argue that Obama might appreciate an opportunity to muddy the waters on off-shore oil drilling to blunt what looks to be a big advantage for McCain. If so, then he hasn’t made that clear to the rest of his party’s leadership. His Illinois colleague in the Senate and the #2 Democrat in the upper chamber, Dick Durbin, castigated the federalist approach. Chuck Schumer, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, joined Durbin in opposing a states-rights approach to oil drilling. The Obama campaign itself issued a statement yesterday against it, arguing that it would take too long to get the oil onto the market to have any effect on prices now — which Democrats have been saying for years.
The split puts Obama’s efforts in Virginia at risk. Mark Warner, the Senatorial candidate vying for the retiring John Warner’s seat, and Governor Tim Kaine both support the bill and want to open the coast for both oil and natural gas. Virginians want to create jobs and go after the energy within its grasp. If Obama continues to deny them that ability, it may hurt Warner’s chances along with Obama’s in a state Democrats thought they could turn in November.
Will this impact Obama’s choice for VP? I have never considered Webb that strong of a candidate (Hugh Hewitt disagrees), but if he was, this will definitely create problems on the ticket.
