Republicans in Congress Grab Oil Drilling as Political Lifeline

By Laura Litvan and Daniel Whitten

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Congressional Republicans, confronted with a slowing economy, an unpopular president and ethics embarrassments that threaten a wave of voter wrath, are clinging to a political lifeline: drilling for oil.

Republican demands that Congress open new areas to drilling to address record gasoline prices have put Democrats on the defensive. Several measures unrelated to energy legislation have languished as Republicans blocked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bids to change the legislative subject away from drilling.

``It's one issue where Republicans see a glimmer of hope,'' said Nathan Gonzales, an editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report in Washington.

Polls this year have shown more public support for expanded domestic oil exploration as the price of gasoline has jumped. With Congress unlikely to agree on an energy plan, Republicans are making clear drilling will be a pivotal topic in the election campaign.

``Energy is going to be the No. 1 issue in the presidential race and in the Senate races, because it affects everyone,'' said Senator John Ensign of Nevada, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

The Moratorium

Republican presidential candidate John McCain recently focused his campaign on the issue, and rarely misses an opportunity to tout his support of expanding oil drilling. Americans are hurting, he says, because of the high price of fuel. This week he used a California oil field as a backdrop when he repeated his call for increased exploration.

Yesterday, President George W. Bush and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky held back-to-back press conferences to urge more drilling and to blame Democrats for intransigence.

``The only thing standing now between the American people and these vast oil resources is the United States Congress,'' Bush said.

Democrats say Republicans will pay a price in the election because they are obstructing debate on measures that would expand alternative sources of energy or curb oil speculators.

``The Republicans have blocked everything,'' Reid said on the Senate floor yesterday. The Republican drilling plan wouldn't put a drop of oil into the marketplace for at least 13 years, Democrats said.

Independent analysts are predicting that Republicans will lose seats in both the House and Senate in the November elections.

Stevens Indicted

The party's outlook may have dimmed further yesterday because of the indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, the party's longest-serving current senator. Stevens was accused of making false statements on Senate financial disclosure forms by failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and renovations on his house.

Stevens, 84, is one of the Senate's leading proponents of drilling and his legal problems won't help the Republicans' cause.

Still, party lawmakers today weren't diverted from their oil drilling strategy and their consistent position has gained public support, polls show.

A July 27-29 CNN poll found that 69 percent of 1,041 adults surveyed supported expanded offshore drilling, while just 30 percent opposed it. The Opinion Research Corp. survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Record Prices

Oil was $125.69 a barrel yesterday, after reaching a record $147.27 on June 11. The average pump price of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.96 a gallon July 28, after reaching $4.11 a gallon July 14, according to weekly Energy Department reports.

Along with McCain, some other Republicans on the ballot in November have changed their positions to embrace offshore oil drilling.

McCain supported the federal moratorium on offshore drilling in his failed 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. The Arizona senator, 71, reversed himself in June.

He said his view had changed because of the impact of soaring gasoline prices on consumers and the country's continuing reliance on foreign oil.

Senator Elizabeth Dole, a North Carolina Republican, in late June changed her stance on oil exploration off North Carolina's coast, and now supports lifting a moratorium on offshore drilling.

In Colorado, an independent group, the American Future Fund, launched a radio ad in Colorado that calls on Democratic Representative Mark Udall to support oil drilling. Udall is running for Senate against Republican Bob Schaffer.

``Gas prices are at an all-time high,'' the ad says. ``But Congress -- led by Nancy Pelosi and Mark Udall -- has blocked real solutions.''

Environmental Groups

Democratic leaders in both chambers have worked to put off votes this year amid opposition from environmental groups and signs of fissures in their ranks over oil drilling. In the Senate, Democrats such as Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jim Webb of Virginia have indicated they support more exploration.

In the House, 17 Democrats -- most in close races this fall -- yesterday voted with Republicans against a routine resolution adjourning Congress for an August recess, after Republicans said Congress shouldn't leave without a full debate on energy policy.

At a news conference, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, repeated more than a dozen times that ``Democrats are for drilling,'' explaining that they want more drilling on land already leased for exploration.

Asked whether he expects the issue to echo into the fall, he said, ``There could be an energy fight over almost anything.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at = llitvan@bloomberg.net and Daniel Whitten in Washington at +1-

dwhitten2@bloomberg.net