SINGAPORE: With just three months to go before the US presidential election in November, both Barack Obama and John McCain are already going at each other, duelling over the airwaves with several hard-hitting campaign commercials.

But American experts are pushing for clearer positions on issues like energy and trade, and are calling on both men to pay "urgent attention" to Asia.

The McCain camp's latest commercial called "Celeb" doesn't pull any punches.

"He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead? With gas prices soaring, Barack Obama says 'no' to offshore drilling and says he'll raise taxes on electricity. Higher taxes, more foreign oil, that's the real Obama. I'm John McCain and I approve this message."

Responding, the Obama camp came up with equally hard-hitting messages.

"Given the magnitude of our challenges when it comes to energy and healthcare and jobs and our foreign policy, you'd think that we'd be having a serious debate. But so far, all we've been hearing about is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears."

But on a more serious note, just where do these presidential hopefuls stand on the big issues and how are voters likely to respond?

Patricia Herbold, US Ambassador to Singapore, said: "On energy policy, I think there are some pretty dramatic differences. Barack Obama is opposed to offshore drilling, for example. He wants to just pursue alternative forms of energy. John McCain is in favour now of offshore drilling as well as pursuing alternative forms of energy, and I think that the recent polling in the United States indicates that the large majority of Americans are in favour of offshore drilling because it really affects – the cost of gasoline is really affecting them economically.

"One of the arguments against offshore drilling is that it will be five to six years before there is any production. Some experts in the industry would argue that that's not true, that it could be there in a couple of years. My position is that if it is five years, and if we don't start now, it will be five years from some later date. So it should at least be one of the options that we look at and there is a big difference between the two candidates on that issue. And whichever one is elected would have to contend with the feelings in Congress."

Trade, too, continues to be a divisive issue amid calls for the new US president to be provided with the power to fast-track trade negotiations.

Herbold said: "John McCain is in favour of free trade and his votes in the Senate have indicated that. Barack Obama says he does not want free trade; he wants fair trade which I believe, he is talking about introducing human rights issues, labour union issues, environmental issues into trade agreements which might be a problem for other countries to cope with.

"Additionally, whichever candidate is elected, they have a Congress that looks to be increasingly protectionist and we might not be able to deal with any free trade agreements in the immediate future."

And what about perceptions that Washington is not engaging Southeast Asia?

"I don't think we ignore Southeast Asia and it is more than just visits by important people from Washington DC that makes the difference. So I'd like to correct that misperception that we don't care – we do care," the ambassador added.

Asia is home to more than half the world's population and six of the ten largest countries. The region produces more than 30 per cent of global exports and controls a much larger share of the world's savings pool.

These are key reasons that both Republican and Democratic foreign policy campaign advisors cannot simply ignore.


- CNA/so