The Political Climate: an ongoing commentary on the NH Primary and Climate Change

At a roundtable in Exeter yesterday, Barack Obama was asked if he could accomplish one thing as president, what would it be.

Obama and many of the other Democratic frontrunners consistently place global warming in their top five or even three priorities, but according to The Baltimore Sun, in yesterday’s roundtable with independents, Obama responded, “If it had to be just one thing, I would enact a bold energy policy.”

Obama was targeting the independent crowd by talking about climate and energy.  He understands the concern of NH independents about the climate issue, which was confirmed by the Mellman polling done one year ago.  The Mellman Poll found that 84% of potential independent NH primary voters support taking immediate action on climate change.

“I think that we could save so much money,” Obama explained, ”engineer such a resurgence in our economy and solve climate change, all at one time. And it would improve our national security posture.  It helps our economy, our environment and our national security.”

The new ARG poll released yesterday found that McCain is now tied with Romney at 26% in New Hampshire.  McCain has grown more and more vocal about climate change as January 8th approaches and his numbers continue to rise.  McCain is now running a climate change radio ad, targeting independents through direct mailings dedicated to climate change, hosting energy and climate change forums, and never ignoring the issue on the stump.

Both the McCain and Obama campaigns are banking on strong support from the large NH independent voting block, and they both seem to be using the climate issue as a key to secure the independent vote.