Obama's common sense solutions that would make a real difference

Obama: tap nation's oil reserve to help gas prices

CHICAGO - In a reversal, Barack Obama is proposing tapping the nation's strategic oil reserves to help drive down gasoline prices, his campaign said Monday.

Obama supports releasing light oil from the emergency oil stockpile now and replacing it later with heavier crude more suited to the country's long-term needs, according to a campaign fact sheet. Light crude oil is easier to refine into gasoline than heavier oil.

Also on Monday, the Obama campaign unveiled a television ad that criticizes Republican John McCain's energy policies.

"After one president in the pocket of big oil we can't afford another," says the ad, referring to President Bush's previous work in the oil industry.

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Is this a perfect solution? Of course not, but it would give some relief now, which McCain's plan would not do.