In his first negative ad of the general election campaign, Democrat Barack Obama said John McCain is "part of the problem" of high gas prices and tried to parry Republican criticism of his own energy policy.

The 30-second commercial is a direct response to a Republican Party ad launched this weekend. The GOP spot _ airing at a cost of $3 million in four states _ accuses Obama of offering no new solutions to solve high gas prices and global warming. Obama's ad will run in the same states where the Republican National Committee placed its ad _ Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, his campaign said.

Obama's sharp retort comes as worried voters have made the spiking cost of fuel one of the top issues in the presidential campaign. The ad fight also flared amid evidence that Americans appear to be more receptive to some of McCain's proposed solutions, including increased oil drilling in the United States.

"On gas prices, John McCain's part of the problem," the Obama ad states. "McCain and Bush support a drilling plan that won't produce a drop of oil for seven years. McCain will give more tax breaks to big oil. He's voted with Bush 95 percent of the time.

"Barack Obama will make energy independence an urgent priority. Raise mileage standards. Fast-track technology for alternative fuels. A $1,000 tax cut to help families as we break the grip of foreign oil. A real plan and new energy."

McCain and Bush want Congress to lift the ban on drilling on the continental shelf. If Congress agrees and states then permit it, energy experts say it would take at least five to seven years before new drilling could begin.

Obama's claim that McCain would give more tax breaks to oil companies is based on McCain's proposal to cut overall corporate tax rates. The campaign cited a study by the Democratic-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund that concluded McCain's proposal to cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent would cut taxes on the top five U.S. oil companies by $3.8 billion a year.

McCain, however, did vote against a 2005 energy bill backed by President Bush, saying at the time that it included billions of dollars in unnecessary tax breaks for the oil industry. Obama voted for the legislation. While Obama's ad correctly states that McCain voted with Bush 95 percent of the time in 2007, his support for Bush's position on legislation in 2005 was a low of 77 percent.

"Barack Obama today launched the first attack ad from either campaign in this election, which follows a string of calculating position changes proving that Barack Obama's commitment to a new type of politics is officially over," said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds. "Even worse, Barack Obama actually voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill and its big-oil tax breaks that he is attacking, so let's end the pretense that Obama is anything other than a typical politician." Continued...