McCain Touts Drilling Agenda at Oil Rig

ABOARD THE CHEVRON GENESIS — Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited this oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday to call for increased offshore drilling that he claims would lower the cost of food and heating homes. McCain traveled 130 miles by helicopter to tour the massive facility, which produces 10,000 barrels of oil each day. He criticized his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, for not supporting such a plan. “He says it won’t solve our problem and that it’s, quote, not real. He’s wrong and the American people know it,” McCain told reporters. Obama’s campaign, meanwhile, called the four-hour excursion nothing more than a stunt. Obama supporter and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack compared McCain’s position to the “Beverly Hillbillies” television program where the main character — Jed Clampett — stumbles onto an oil gusher. McCain, he said, has “a Jed Clampett energy policy.” McCain and his ... (link)