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Opinion: McCain on offshore drilling: Up to California to decide

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Sen. John McCain campaigned in California Monday evening and spent much of his time at a fundraiser in Santa Barbara where, not surprisingly, the locally sensitive subject of offshore oil drilling came up.

Moments after McCain made a lengthy presentation on how Republicans cannot afford to write off California to the Democrats in the general election, which the GOP hasn’t won in a presidential race in many cycles, the Arizona senator was asked about his position on offshore drilling.

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According to the pool report provided to The Ticket by The Times’ Maeve Reston, Dan Secord made a statement to McCain and then asked his question:

‘Santa Barbara has among other things a great natural beauty -- one of our great natural beauties lies before you out there to the south. We’re really kind of goosey here about oil spills. And we’re goosey here about federal drilling and oil lands, which are abundant offshore.

‘So we ask you to look out there to the south and the southeast and remember the greatest environmental catastrophe that’s hit this state and then balance that with the notion of winning California. This is a vibrating blue city and a vibrating state, and it’s gonna be a tough haul.”

“This gathering is adjourned,” McCain promptly quipped.

He noted that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disagrees with him on the offshore drilling issue, but that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist now agrees with the presumptive Republican nominee.

McCain stressed that he believes in states’ rights. As he did campaigning earlier in the day, McCain cited the successful examples of Louisiana and Texas, noting they have allowed drilling and weathered two devastating hurricanes with minimal or no oil spills.

“I think the environmental situation is today -- that we could probably do that,” McCain said. “But I don’t want to override the state of California.”

Then the candidate added, ‘I want the states to decide.’

--Andrew Malcolm

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