Senate Republicans have ramped up their efforts to force an end to offshore drilling restrictions and are setting the stage for what could turn into a government shutdown over the critical campaign issue of energy. Congressional Democratic leaders want to extend the moratorium on new offshore oil and gas drilling, which is due to expire Sept. 30, and the most likely route would be to attach it to a catch-all spending bill to keep the government running. But 37 Republicans, led by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have signed a letter pledging to “actively oppose” that extension.
The two senators auditioning for the role of commander in chief had a surprise dress rehearsal with the sudden hostility in Georgia, and their starkly different initial performances give voters an insight into how the candidates would handle a middle-of-the-night crisis.
Sen. Barack Obama tapped Mark Warner to deliver the keynote address on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, boosting the former Virginia governor’s run for U.S. Senate and the party’s bid to steal the state from Republicans in the presidential race.
History disabuses every president of the notion that he has a legacy to leave. What he leaves is a record, sometimes written in fire and blood, and history assigns the legacy.
