McCain extends olive branch to Pelosi, Gore
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Republican Sen. John McCain, engaged in increasingly sharp attacks on rival Barack Obama, pledged that if elected president, he would work closely with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, praising her as an effective leader and an "inspiration to millions of Americans."
"I respect Speaker Pelosi. I think she's one of the great American success stories," McCain said during an interview with The Chronicle prior to a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
"We talk about (New York Sen.) Hillary Clinton and her inspiration to millions of Americans. Speaker Pelosi has been an inspiration as well" in a role that is "in many ways ... more powerful than the president."
And McCain also had high praise for the 2000 Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore and his advocacy on the issue of climate change. McCain recently raised eyebrows in GOP circles by calling "doable" Gore's suggestion that the country could become entirely energy independent through use of renewable resources within 10 years.
"I agree with his goal," the Arizona senator said Monday of Gore's idea. "I may disagree with all the ways of getting there. But I again want to emphasize my respect for the former vice president's leadership on this issue and his continuous leadership. And I am in no way trying to get into a fight with him."
Agreement on goals
McCain said that while he differs with Gore on the importance of nuclear power, "I do believe that his goals and his priorities and the visibility that he's given the issue has been good for America and the world."
His praise for two Democrats who are regularly in the bull's-eye of the conservative talk radio and the right-wing blogosphere is likely to draw fire from Republican loyalists, who consider Pelosi and Gore to be the evil twins of liberalism.
"It drives the talk radio crowd nuts when McCain does not wage war on Pelosi and Gore," said Hoover Institution media fellow Bill Whalen. McCain, he said, likely was trying to reach out to moderate and independent voters during his San Francisco visit.
Whalen said McCain's reluctance to criticize Gore is understandable because the former vice president is not running for office. But many Republicans believe that Pelosi, who met Tuesday with Obama and Democratic Party leadership in Washington, should be squarely in McCain's sights.
Advice to get tough
"At some point, the McCain campaign has to make Congress and the Democratic majority an issue in this campaign ... it's something McCain has to wrestle with," Whalen said. There are three key issues at stake, he said: "The bad performance of the Congress - the reason why the approval rating is 9 to 14 percent. The second is what they want to do when Obama comes into office." The third is the issue of divided government - whether Democrats should indeed control both houses of Congress and the White House, he said.
"He has to get rougher - and his problem in the election is the GOP brand," especially with stories like the indictment on Tuesday of Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the most senior GOP senator, he said.
"You have to fight fire with fire. (He should say) if the Republican brand ain't so hot, then what about the Democratic brand?"
But McCain's "first instinct is not to go negative or go to the punch. He tends to pull the punch," said Whalen. That may have to end soon, he said, because "he's got two challenges ahead of him: Obama is hovering close to 40 to 50 percent in the polls, and has to be dragged down, and McCain is in the low 40s and has to be pumped up."
With the campaign - one of the most exhaustive and lengthy presidential competitions in history - heading into a critical period, McCain in recent weeks has taken a sharper tone as he has been sorely challenged by both a tidal wave of attention and skillful positioning from Obama.
The Illinois senator galvanized international attention last week with a trip that included a historic address to 200,000 Germans in Berlin and meetings with leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, France, Germany and Great Britain.
McCain has accused Obama of being willing to lose the war in Iraq in order to win his presidential campaign - a remark that has drawn criticism from critics who called it unseemly.
Pelosi's view
Pelosi has recently pounded McCain for what she said has been an energy policy that she argued is a virtual continuation of the Bush administration's failed efforts. The speaker appeared at a San Francisco gas station earlier this month to charge that McCain has failed to take action on ideas that will reduce the price of gas at the pump now - including cracking down on price gouging, enacting a "use it or lose it" policy for oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres of undeveloped federal oil reserves and suspending the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
McCain, asked about those criticisms Monday, sidestepped the direct issue of "use it or lose it." Although he did criticize her for failing to hold a vote on offshore oil drilling, he said he would extend a hand to work with her on a variety of critical issues.
"I promise you that I respect her," he said, "I will sit down with her when I'm president, and will say 'Let's work together,' " he said. "If (the late House Speaker) Tip O'Neill and (President) Ronald Reagan could, then certainly John McCain and Nancy Pelosi can. ... I think she's been very effective."
McCain also downplayed criticism from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger - a Republican and an endorser - who dismissed the idea of lifting federal offshore oil drilling moratorium as "blowing smoke."
"I have said the states should decide. And Gov. Schwarzenegger has made his position clear. So has Speaker Pelosi," he said.
But he said as an added incentive to coastal states, "one of the things I would do is offer them a higher share of the revenues. There are certain budgetary problems that exist, as we all know," he said. "It's their coastal waters, and I would offer them more of the revenues."
John McCain in his own words
In an interview with The Chronicle on Monday, John McCain addressed a number of issues. Among them:
On Gov. Schwarzenegger's criticism that lifting the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling is "blowing smoke": "Gov. Schwarzenegger has made his position clear. ... The governor of Florida has had a different position. ... One of the things I would do is offer (coastal states) a higher share of the revenues. There are certain budgetary problems that exist, as we all know. It's their coastal waters and I would offer them more of the revenues."
On how he would handle sanctuary cities like San Francisco: "I would push for federal action to carry out a federal responsibility. And a federal responsibility is immigration. ...If you have secure borders and you have a temporary worker program that has to do with tamper-proof biometric documents ... you address the issue of the 12 million people who are here illegally, and you don't have to worry about all that."
On former Vice President Al Gore's contention that America can be energy independent in 10 years: "I don't think it's doable without nuclear power. I do believe we can become energy independent, but I think it will (involve) nuclear power, wind, solar. ... It requires all those things, including offshore drilling."
E-mail Carla Marinucci at
cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.
