We are at an interesting point in this year's presidential race, as the jump in gasoline prices over $4/gallon gives us an issue that could well shake up the political landscape before November.

In terms of the Blame Game, Democrats have been able to pin much of it on Messrs Bush and Cheney (the two oilmen in the White House) along with Big Oil.

Republicans are gamely trying to shift the focus back on the Democrats, arguing it is their legislative intransigence that has blocked legitimate efforts over the years to expand oil and gas production in the U.S.

It is very important right now for both parties to stay on message.

That's why the statement earlier this week by a Democratic lawmaker in the Congress about "nationalizing" oil refineries was jumped on so quickly by Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Polls do show that a majority of Americans would back the idea of lifting the ban on offshore oil and gas exploration, for example.  GOP leaders hope they can capitalize on that in coming weeks and months.

"McCain Scores With Offshore Drilling Proposal" was the headline on the latest commentary from political analyst Dick Morris, who argues that Democrats are treading on thin ice by opposing new exploration in the US.

What would make this story even more interesting would be if the Congress actually held some votes on it.

This week a House panel postponed action on a bill that included the yearly ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration.

Sooner or later that has to be voted on and sent to the floor of the House, which means that sooner or later, we might have votes in the House and Senate on some key energy issues.

Subjects like offshore drilling, opening ANWR, new refinery rules and more could all be brought up.  But so far, Congressional Democrats aren't rushing to set the schedule for that.

I haven't seen the schedule yet for next week in the House, but I wonder if the Democrats might try to bring up some kind of bill on oil, just so they can say, "we did this and that" when they go home for the July 4th break.

Democrats huddled earlier this week with House leaders, trying to come up with some kind of plan to vote on, but nothing concrete emerged.

All the while, Republicans are turning up the heat on the Dems over oil, demanding votes on President Bush's plans and helping echo the message of John McCain.

Speaking of McCain, the Sierra Club will today endorse Barack Obama for President.  Officials said McCain's switch this week on offshore drilling made their choice much easier.

That's probably just fine with the GOP, as they can argue that Obama is the favorite of tree-hugging radical environmentalists while McCain is backed by maintstream America on the need to find more oil.

Back to my original thought about this issue being a 'wild card' in the 2008 elections.  We often talk about 'pocketbook' issues.

Well, there is nothing more clear than the price of gasoline and the price of food.  With both of them going up, who knows where the chips might fall in November.