From The Hotline for Thursday, June 19, 2008

FLORIDA (27 EVS)

Crash And Burn, Eh, Mav?

Thu. Jun 19, 2008


Several "high-profile" FL GOPers "broke" with John McCain over his proposal to end a federal moratorium on offshore drilling 6/18, despite support for the proposal from Sen. Mel Martinez (R) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R).

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-13), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-18), incoming state House Speaker Ray Sansom (R) and outgoing Speaker Marco Rubio (R) all voiced their opposition. Ros-Lehtinen: "We must continue to protect and preserve our economic interests by safeguarding against near-shore drilling." Rubio: "For anyone to represent that someone drilling off the coast in Florida is going to lower gas prices here or anywhere else in this country is disingenuous and a flawed argument."

Other GOPers were more muted. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-12) "noted that Florida's congressional delegation agreed in '06 to open up" 8M acres for drilling "in exchange for a 125-mile buffer" between drilling sites and the coast. Putnam: "The net result was not instant death to the elected officials." Ex.-Gov. Jeb Bush (R) "offered a compromise via e-mail" in "a rare public statement." Bush: "I support the president's continued advocacy to develop domestic sources of oil and gas with a sense of urgency. I would encourage Congress to reconsider the common sense plan that (ex-) Congressman (Richard) Pombo (R-CA) and I worked on in 2006. The proposal would have provided a 100 mile buffer of permanent protection around the state from Jacksonville to Pensacola and, at the same time, would have opened up millions of acres in the energy rich Central Gulf for new exploration."

Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker, on the offshore drilling issue: "There is a certain political danger for McCain. The question becomes: With gas at $4 a gallon, have people's minds changed? My best guess is that more people today are willing to support offshore drilling with heavy restrictions than a couple of years ago."

Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown: "McCain is obviously taking a chance, given that he's trying to run as a Republican who is environmentally friendly" (Clark/Klas/Reinhard, Miami Herald, 6/19).

  •  
  •