McCain, Obama focus on Florida; Palin touts energy independence in Ohio
McCain courts Cuban Americans in Miami as Palin calls for 'a clean break' from the Bush administration's reliance on foreign oil. Obama plans a TV blitz and is scheduled to join former President Clinton for a Kissimmee rally.
Reporting from Miami — The presidential campaign moved to the battleground state of Florida today as Republican John McCain courted Cuban American votes in Miami's Little Havana and Democrat Barack Obama planned a rally in Kissimmee with former President Clinton.
Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made what the campaign billed as a major address on energy independence, calling for "a clean break" from the Bush administration's reliance on importing foreign oil.
"Three decades of partisan paralysis on energy security is enough," she said at a solar company in Toledo, Ohio. "It's time we meet this challenge in a way consistent with the character of our nation, and that starts with producing more of our own energy."
The Alaska governor told an audience at Xunlight Energy that she would bring "serious reform" of energy policy to Washington, as she has to Juneau.
"Relying upon oil from the Middle East, we not only provide wealth to the sponsors of terrors, we provide high-value targets to the terrorists themselves," she said. "Across the world are pipelines, refineries, transit routes and terminals for the oils we rely on. And Al Qaeda terrorists know where they are."
Echoing Palin's call for "American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity and produced by American workers," McCain told voters in Miami that if he is elected, he would make sure that Florida and other coastal states share in the revenues from offshore drilling.
McCain, behind in the national polls, again criticized his rival, for seeking to redistribute wealth. "Sen. Obama is running to be redistributionist in chief," he said. "I'm running to be commander in chief."
Obama, who campaigned this morning in Raleigh, N.C., will be all over television this evening. The campaign bought 30 minutes of prime time on BET, CBS, Fox, MSNBC, NBC, TV One and Univision to run a program featuring a video of Americans talking about the challenges they face and then cutting to Obama speaking at a rally in Florida.
