Sen. McCain holds off putting his name on GOP energy proposal

Sen. John McCain has not signed onto his party’s signature response to the energy crisis.

The broad GOP bill includes a call for expanded offshore oil drilling and has the support of 44 of the 49 Senate Republicans. But one of five names missing is the party’s candidate for president, the Arizona Republican with a reputation for going his own way on policy issues.

{mosads}Democrats interpret McCain’s inaction as proof that the legislation will have no impact on gas prices.

But the GOP leadership disputes that reading, saying the Republican standard-bearer supports the principles of the bill but is too busy with his campaign for president.

“I think his getting involved in all the machinations in the Senate doesn’t make sense from a campaign point of view,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). “He’s got his own [energy] plan, and I know he’s comfortable with every part of [the Senate GOP bill].”

McCain has found time to co-sponsor three resolutions since the energy legislation was introduced on June 26 — one honoring the late Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), another commemorating two slain U.S. Capitol Police officers and a third designating the second week of September the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.

McCain also just signed onto two amendments to expand nuclear power that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wants to offer to a Democratic bill targeting market speculation on oil futures. Last week, he also added his name to a bill to help disabled military veterans to receive compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

McCain’s office has not responded to several e-mails and phone calls seeking comment about why he has not co-sponsored the energy bill.

Both McCain and his rival for the presidency, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), have been largely absent on Capitol Hill as they have pursued higher office. Since the beginning of the year, though, McCain has been far less active than Obama has been on the Hill.

McCain has attended just 36 of 189 votes this year, while Obama has attended 72 of those votes. The last time McCain voted was on April 8, when he voted in favor of ending debate on a housing bill. Obama last voted July 9 to advance a Medicare bill to avert a cut in reimbursement fees to physicians.

And that has not gone unnoticed by Senate Democrats.

“Sen. Obama has come to work and taken tough stands,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on the floor recently. “Perhaps taking tough stands on important issues is not part of Sen. McCain’s campaign strategy. Perhaps he’s just too busy on the campaign trail to do his day job.”

McCain and his allies scoff at that attack, saying the senator has a long history of taking political blows while pushing forward on immigration, campaign finance, climate change and judicial nominees.

The GOP presidential candidate has also sponsored less legislation than Obama has this year. McCain has co-sponsored 205 legislative measures during the 110th Congress, but the majority of those were introduced in 2007. Only 56 of the measures he supported were from 2008. He has been a lead sponsor on 38 measures during this Congress, with only one of those taking place this year: a bill he offered in April to suspend a federal gas tax, a measure he has touted on the campaign trail.

Obama has co-sponsored 502 legislative measures this Congress, 120 of them in 2008. The Democrat has been a lead sponsor on 127 measures this Congress, 14 of which were introduced in 2008.

The two have co-sponsored 71 of the same proposals this Congress.

Sponsoring bills can be a symbolic task, like on June 5 when McCain lent his name to a resolution congratulating Arizona State University’s softball team for winning the 2008 national championship, or when Obama signed onto a resolution designating July 10 as National Summer Learning Day.

But they also can be used to make political points, such as McCain’s co-sponsorship of a bill to amend the Clean Air Act by limiting the use of ethanol at a time when the corn-based fuel has been blamed for increasing food and gas prices.

Obama has taken a similar tack, signing onto a bill in June that would require lobbyists to register with the Justice Department if a meeting happens on foreign soil. Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, had previously lobbied on behalf of a Ukrainian politician.

McCain’s decision not to co-sponsor the energy bill has raised some eyebrows on Capitol Hill, particularly since the other four senators not to sign onto the bill are known as GOP centrists: Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both from Maine, Gordon Smith (Ore.) and Chuck Hagel (Neb.). Collins and Smith both face tough reelections in states that have a large number of Democratic voters.

“There is much in the package that I support, but I want to see a bipartisan package,” Collins said of the GOP energy package.

A central component of the Republican energy package is a provision giving states the option of allowing oil drilling off their coasts, and allowing for Western oil shale exploration.

Fellow Arizona Republican Jon Kyl, who serves as minority whip, said that is the “same approach” that McCain proposes.