Obama Calls McCain’s Car Battery Contest a Bounty

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Last updated on July 1st, 2012 at 07:11 am

Energy has been the topic on the campaign trail this week, and today Barack Obama called McCain’s $300 million Clean Car Challenge a bounty that will increase our addiction to oil.

“After all those years in Washington, John McCain still doesn’t get it. I commend him for his desire to accelerate the search for a battery that can power the cars of the future. I’ve been talking about this myself for the last few years. But I don’t think a $300 million prize is enough,” Obama said.

Obama also criticized McCain’s lack of vision, “When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to put a man on the moon, he didn’t put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win – he put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people. That’s the kind of effort we need to achieve energy independence in this country, and nothing less will do.”

He referred to McCain’s plan as another gimmick designed to continue America’s dependence on oil, “But in this campaign, John McCain offering the same old gimmicks that will provide almost no short-term relief to folks who are struggling with high gas prices; gimmicks that will only increase our oil addiction for another four years.”

Obama is correct in pointing out that the majority of McCain’s proposals on energy are designed to offer a short term solution at best. Ten years from now, offshore drilling would offer three years of relief. The gas tax holiday would lower prices at the pump by 30 cents a gallon for three months, and his $300 million contest is a gimmick, not a long term energy policy. The only long term solution that he has proposed is nuclear power, which raises a variety of concerns with people all around the country.

There are two things that I find surprising about the McCain campaign so far. First, they have demonstrated an uncanny ability to shoot themselves in the foot on an almost weekly basis. Second, is the lack of leadership that McCain has shown. There has not been a single issue that McCain has been out in front of. All of his proposals are nothing more than a continuation or expansion of Bush policies. The result of this ineptitude will be that if Obama continues to look like the candidate who can lead, he will win easily in November.

Full Text of Obama’s Remarks