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Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserve on Monday to help lower gas prices, reversing an earlier stance, and called rival John McCain a tool of big oil companies as rising energy costs took center stage in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Via Jim Geraghty, who caught this even while on vacation. In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency ... Today, we discovered what Barack Obama considers a genuine emergency — a drop in the polls:

Barack Obama on 7/7/08 (much more recent than the 2005 comments): "I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let's say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out...

So just how upset is the leftwing blogosphere over Barack Obama's switch on his "rock solid" opposition to offshore oil drilling? Try over 4700 angry post (as of this writing) at the HUffington POst THREAD, "Obama Shifts, Says He May Back Offshore Drilling," announcing this latest 180 by the Obamassiah. Perhaps the left was reconciled that the switch on FISA by Obama would be his last major switch but this change on position on offshore oil drilling is just too much for them. Likewise the DUmmies and KOmmies are beyond upset with Obama on this switch as well as...

Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of joint appearances, agreeing only to the standard three debates in the fall. In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, "I think that's a great idea." In summer stumping on the campaign trail, McCain has often noted that Obama had not followed through and joined him in any events. Obama's reversal on town hall debates is part of a play-it-safe strategy he's adopted since claiming the nomination and grabbing a lead in national...

You'd think a guy who has demonstrated such flexibility on everything from campaign finance to NAFTA to the Second Amendment to the surge could find a way to wangle some townhall meetings with John McCain into his schedule. But gosh darn it, that would just be too tough for Barack Obama, explains George Stephanopoulos. The "This Week" host made his excuses for the Dem candidate on today's Good Morning America. BILL WEIR: The Obama campaign just agreed to three debates after the McCain campaign called for ten or so townhall meetings. Given his oratory skills, why won't Obama answer that...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama responded Saturday to criticism that he has changed his position on opposing offshore oil drilling. Obama said Friday that he would be willing to compromise on his position against offshore oil drilling if it were part of a more overarching strategy to lower energy costs. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama told The Palm Beach Post early into a two-day swing through Florida. But on Saturday morning, Obama said this "wasn't really a new position." "I made...

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 2 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, in Florida, Barack Obama once again demonstrated that his words really don't matter. When discussing NASA programs, Barack Obama said that "it's still being reported" that he would delay the NASA Constellation Program to pay for his early education program. Unfortunately for Barack Obama, that is what he proposed and has been saying for months: BARACK OBAMA: "It's Still Being Reported"...

McCain's campaign disparaged Obama for backing off. "We understand it might be beneath a worldwide celebrity of Barack Obama's magnitude to appear at town hall meetings alongside John McCain and directly answer questions from the American people, but we hope he'll reconsider," spokesman Brian Rogers said.

TITUSVILLE, Fla - Standing with Florida Senator and former astronaut Bill Nelson 20 minutes north of the spiritual home of America’s space program in Cape Canaveral, Barack Obama committed to keeping NASA exploring the outer reaches of the cosmos for years to come - reversing a pledge to cut funding for new space flights. Obama recalled watching American astronauts emerge from the Pacific ocean after space flights as a boy in his Native Hawaii. “When I was growing up, NASA inspired the world with achievements we’re still proud of,” he said. “Today, we have an administration that sets ambitious goals...

To pile on Matt's earlier post, Obama's flip on drilling strikes me as a major error. Even when analyzing it entirely as a political move, where the specifics of the legislation and the popularity of drilling are irrelevant, it still comes off very poorly. Straight up, it just looks like he caved. That is a terrible image for any politician to radiate. It isn't about moving to the left, right and center. It is about not moving away from yourself. That looks bad, no matter what the bill is, and no matter how popular is may be. This won't help...

WASHINGTON - Democratic candidate Barack Obama on Saturday backed further away from rival John McCain's challenge for a series of Lincoln-Douglas debates, agreeing only to the standard three face-offs in the fall proposed by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., fought back against the perception that he’s shifted away from his opposition to off-shore oil drilling by suggesting he softened his position as a compromise toward a broader energy policy. Obama first indicated Friday in an interview with the Palm Beach Post that he would be willing to compromise on his opposition to off-shore drilling, and would consider expanding the current drilling boundaries -- if it was part of a plan to make the country more energy independent by developing more fuel-efficient cars and alternative energy sources. Today, at a press...

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama Friday dropped his opposition to offshore oil drilling, saying he could go along with the idea if it was part of a broader energy package. Obama made his comments in St. Petersburg during an interview with the Palm Beach Post. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," he said. "If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don't want to...

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Friday he would back limited offshore drilling as part of a broader energy package that attempted to bring down gas prices and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Obama dropped his blanket opposition to any expansion of offshore drilling and signaled support for a bipartisan compromise in Congress aimed at breaking a deadlock on energy that includes limited drilling. "My interest is in making sure we've got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices," Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Friday he would be willing to support limited additional offshore oil drilling if that's what it takes to enact a comprehensive policy to foster fuel-efficient autos and develop alternate energy sources. Shifting from his previous opposition to expanded offshore drilling, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get behind a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy. Republican rival John McCain, who earlier dropped his opposition to offshore drilling, has been criticizing Obama on the stump and in broadcast ads for clinging to...

Senator Obama refuses to be boxed in between what he considers two “false choices”, either:1) …On such and such date, come Hell or high water we’ve gotten our troops out, and be blind to anything that happens in intermediate months2) …completely defer to whatever the commanders on the ground say (because his military and strategic knowledge is better than theirs)LINKBy dismissing out of hand the absoluteness of a calender date by which all Americans will be out of Iraq, Senator Obama has just capitulated the political left’s dogma for the past six years (a debate that started in 2002 before...

As Oppenheimer writes in this piece, "There is a fierce behind-the-scenes battle for influence over presumptive Democratic candidate Barack Obama's Hispanic and Latin American agenda, and some Democratic strategists say that its outcome could determine the result of the November elections." "Some Obama backers in South Florida, in particular, are especially miffed at what they see as excessive power by labor-union-tied, left-leaning Mexican-American leaders at Obama's Chicago headquarters over the campaign's nationwide Hispanic and Latin American policy strategies."

I hate flip-flops. That is, I hate the shoes. They're impractical. Unsafe, even. But I really hate the political use of the term, usually leveled as an accusation. It's gone from being a legitimate, shorthand descriptor to being a nonsensical dismissal. Don't dress them in the darn things, but let politicians flip-flop, already. If, of course, by "flip-flop," one means a prudent and authentic change of mind. Now, that's probably just a flip, but I guess then we'd be looking at things rationally. The Washington Post, in fact, just recently encouraged a flip, accusing Barack Obama of a "foolish consistency"...

This is pretty powerful.