Tom Ridge On ABC's "This Week"

"You know every once in a while, we see [Barack Obama] playing basketball. And he's obviously a pretty good athlete. And probably has a pretty good head fake. So the head fake is 'well I'll deal with a compromise' but later on depending on the audience too, he's saying 'I don't favor drilling.'" -- Tom Ridge

Tom Ridge
ABC's "This Week"
August 3, 2008

Tom Ridge: "Well, the point of this ad is energy policy is a serious deficiency in this country vis-a-vis an energy policy. We've been waiting 20 or 30 years to get one. John McCain has suggested that we have an all above approach. Let's talk nuclear. Let's talk drilling. Let's talk biofuels. Let's talk biofuels in a way that's smart and doesn't disrupt the agricultural community, but let's get it all on the table. And Senator Obama said no nuclear, no drilling."

ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "He seems open to drilling right now, as part of a comprehensive package."

Ridge: "Well now, he said that in the morning and later on in the afternoon he clarified his position. He said I am opposed to drilling. He is opposed to drilling."

Stephanopoulos: "But he said he would accept it as a part of a comprehensive package."

Ridge: "That he clarified later in the day. I mean it's typical. You know every once in a while, we see him playing basketball. And he's obviously a pretty good athlete. And probably has a pretty good head fake. So the head fake is 'well I'll deal with a compromise' but later on depending on the audience too, he's saying 'I don't favor drilling.' And he doesn't favor nuclear. So at the end of the day, you say to yourself, this is a competitive issue, short-term and long-term. At the end of the day, I think members of both parties are moving closer and closer to Senator McCain's position by saying, 'Look, we need to put it all on the table. Let's figure it out. We need both a short and long-term energy policy.' And by the way, the windfall profits tax that Senator Obama feels is pretty popular -- politically popular -- doesn't reduce the price at the pump, doesn't reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and doesn't increase produ ction. So that ad was about energy. And let's get serious, let's recognize who he is -- very charismatic, gives great speeches, but it's substance time. Ninety days left to go, let's talk issues."

Watch Tom Ridge On ABC's "This Week"