Obama calls gas tax relief a political ploy, talks up pocketbook issues in Indiana

indianapolis – Barack Obama cited an escalating argument over a proposed gas tax holiday as evidence that his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is prepared to tout dubious policy if it might help her win an election.

Speaking to an audience at a high school today, Obama said the proposal – which also is backed by the presumptive GOP nominee, John McCain – would save people the equivalent of half a tank of gasoline. That assumes the oil companies don’t raise prices to fill the gap left by the tax holiday, he said.

“So this is not about getting you through the summer, it’s about getting elected,” Obama said. “And this is what passes for leadership in Washington – phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems.”

In the weekend before the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, Obama also sought to beat back perceptions that he is out of touch with voters. Campaigning here, Obama was introduced not by a politician but by an Amtrak machinist worried about losing his job. The candidate also took the stage briefly with his wife, Michelle, and two young daughters.

Clinton and Obama recently have aired TV ads critical of one another’s positions on a temporary suspension of the 18.4-cents-a-gallon tax. Clinton favors eliminating the federal tax over the summer to give motorists some relief at the pump; Obama decries the plan as a stunt that will yield little to no savings to consumers.

Economists, environmentalists and other experts also have denounced the idea, saying that it would favor the oil industry rather than consumers.

Obama mentioned here that Clinton’s proposal had been praised by a Shell Oil lobbyist. His campaign later said that he was talking about Steve Elmendorf, a Clinton supporter.

A Clinton spokesman, Phil Singer, countered that Obama had supported a gas-tax suspension when he served in the Illinois Legislature. The Clinton campaign also noted that she would pay for the tax suspension through a windfall profits tax on oil companies.

“Considering that Sen. Obama voted to suspend the gas tax three times when gas cost less than $2 a gallon – and has an energy lobbyist chairing his Indiana campaign – it’s hard to take his latest criticisms very seriously. Sen. Obama wants Americans to pay the gas tax, but Sen. Clinton thinks the big oil companies should pay it this summer.”

Clinton’s campaign was referring to Kip Tew, an Obama supporter in Indiana who has done lobbying work for energy interests.

Asked about Obama’s previous votes in favor a gas-tax suspension, his campaign said his position was based on the expectation the savings would be passed on to consumers. When he learned that did not happen, he voted against a permanent suspension of Illinois’ portion of the gasoline tax, his campaign said.

With polls showing Clinton leading in Indiana and closing the gap in North Carolina, Obama is retooling his stump speech to broaden his appeal among working-class voters. Rather than talking abstractly about his desire to change the political tone in Washington, he moves quickly from an introductory greeting to a discussion of pocketbook concerns.

Less than two minutes into a speech in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday, he was talking about local job losses.

“At the end of the month, it’s harder to make ends meet, and people sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how to pay this bill and put this bill off,” he said.

Mindful of the furor over his former pastor, Obama has been urging voters not to be influenced by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

Wright made a series of national television appearances over the last week, focusing attention on his controversial views on race and religion.

Obama said that his former pastor is merely a distraction in a campaign that is about such wrenching issues as Iraq, a worsening economy and expensive healthcare.

“As we’ve done well in this election, as we’ve been successful, increasingly my opponents spend their time talking not about the issues but about me. They say, ‘Look at those crazy things his former pastor said.’ Or, ‘He’s not wearing a flag pin.’ ” Or, ‘He has a funny name. Sounds like he’s Muslim.’ These are strategies to divide us. We’ve seen those strategies before.”

 peter.nicholas@latimes.com