Gasoline prices have become close to the top issue in the presidential campaign. Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX/4) introduced a bill today in the House of Representatives that would deed the Alaska Coastal Plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to the State of Alaska. This Coastal Plain is the area within ANWR believed to hold approximately 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

The Coastal Plain is a small part of the 19 million acres that currently comprise ANWR. The balance of ANWR aside from the Coastal Plain would remain as federal land.

The bill would require the state to share with the federal government 50 percent of the tax and royalty income arising from oil and gas production in Coastal Plain.

In announcing the bill, Hall said:

“This bill is totally different from the multiple attempts to drill on ANWR over the past 15 years. I offer something different. I offer something that should appeal to anyone who believes in States’ Rights. This bill came to mind last week – when I said to myself – if we can’t drill in ANWR, let’s give it back to those who can and will.”

Read the press release from Ralph Hall’s office here.

The New York Times has spiked an editorial submission from Republican presidential candidate John McCain that responds to an op-ed piece written by his opponent Barack Obama. The Obama piece ran Mon., July 14. You can read it here.

McCain’s submission to the Times was rejected by op-ed editor David Shipley, who served in the Clinton administration from 1995 to 1997. Shipley said that in order for the Times to publish the piece, it would need to be re-written to include a definition by McCain for victory in Iraq and include a timetable for victory and eventual removal of U.S. forces from the country.

The McCain campaign objects to the demand, saying that bowing to the paper’s demand is essentially re-writing the piece on Obama’s terms.

Investors Business Daily has an editorial on this subject here.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, visiting Iraq as a part of a congressional fact-finding tour, told ABC’s Terry Moran that even taking into account the undisputed success of the U.S. military surge, he would still oppose it if given the chance to vote again.

Here is the transcript of the interview:

TERRY MORAN: The surge of U.S. troops, combined with ordinary Iraqis’ rejection of both al Qaeda and Shiite extremists have transformed the country. Attacks are down more than 80% nationwide. U.S. combat casualties have plummeted, five this month so far, compared with 78 last July, and Baghdad has a pulse again. If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you — would you support the surge?

OBAMA: No, because — keep in mind that —

MORAN: You wouldn’t?

OBAMA: Well, no, keep — these kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult. Hindsight is 20/20. I think what I am absolutely convinced of is that at that time, we had to change the political debate, because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with…”

Having assumed the position as presumptive nominee, Barack Obama now appears to be moving toward the center on a number of issues including the war in Iraq.

National Review’s Rich Lowry offers his thoughts on Obama’s rightward move in this article.

Even though Hillary Clinton finished strong, she could not, in the end, overcome the lead that Barack Obama built up beginning in the early weeks of 2008. With the results of Montana and South Dakota now coming in, the presidential primary season is officially over.

Barack Obama is projected to have a sufficient number of pledged delegates together with a sizable majority of Democratic party super delegates to put him over the number needed to clinch the Democrat nomination for president.

ABC’s Vic Ratner reports from the Obama campaign.  to listen.

What remains to be seen is whether or not Hillary Clinton will concede or will hold out for concessions from the Obama camp, including demanding to be put on the ticket in the VP slot.

Even though Clinton trails in delegates, she could still demand that her delegates remain committed to her and could take her fight to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August.

Perhaps the best student of American politics in two generations is former adviser to President Bush Karl Rove. During his time in the Bush Administration, he was loathed by Democrats and most of the media. One of the principal reasons behind the left’s visceral hatred of him was the fact that he was so good at his job.

In the wake of a Republican loss in a special congressional election in Mississippi, Karl Rove sounds a warning to Republicans (and Democrats) in this article in the Wall Street Journal.

The last area in which Hillary Clinton could claim a lead vanished today.

With one defection and one announcement, Obama has moved into the lead among the party’s super delegates.

Click here to read the story from ABC News.

The Tuesday, May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana effectively ended the race for the Democratic nomination for president.

Barack Obama scored huge win in North Carolina, beating Hillary Clinton by a 56% to 45% margin.

In Indiana, where some polls predicted that Clinton would win by a double-digit margin, the final tally came in at 51% to 49% in favor of Clinton, with only 22,000 votes out of 1.5 million cast separating the two candidates.

It was a night of very bad news for the Clinton campaign. But the long, bitter campaign for the Democratic nomination is effectively over. While it is likely that Hillary Clinton will soldier on through West Virginia, Kentucky, Puerto Rico and Oregon, the fact is that the Democratic super-delegates will begin to declare for Obama in large numbers and Obama will be able to focus on McCain and begin campaigning as the presumptive nominee.

ABC political consultant Matthew Dowd reports. Click here to listen.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright continues to be a problem for the Obama campaign. When news of Wright’s virulently anti-American, anti-white sermons first surfaced, many said that the clips that were repeatedly played were “taken out of context.”

Earlier this week, the Rev. Wright addressed the Detroit chapter of the NAACP. Any doubts as to context were removed in that speech.

The bulk of his speech appears in two parts below.