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Writing for Citiwire, Brookings fellow Robert Lang asks whether the 2008 presidential contest might be the last one to openly pit rural and exurban voters against cities, which are increasingly aligned politically with inner suburbs. Lang says it depends on whether Republicans will again feel confident running the type of campaign that mocks community organizers and sanctifies "small town values," a strategy he views as a dead-end:

Maybe John McCain can somehow pull out one more win for small town America. But the odds look increasing long. More importantly, no future Republican nominee is likely to try another full-on, rural-based run at the White House. Or to repeat this autumn's theme of rural places as "real" and "pro American," using coded language to imply that big metropolitan areas are illegitimate and anti American. We are a metro nation and we do have a common stake in the success of all places -- from largest cities to the smallest hamlets.

Back in August, Citiwire's Neal Peirce noted that the convergence of city and suburban interests is already creating a more favorable environment for regional transit initiatives. It will be fascinating to see, following today's election, how this transition shapes federal policy too.

Photo of the flag flying in Inwood: Brad Aaron

The early returns are in from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, where Barack Obama amassed a 15-6 advantage over John McCain. Actual state results are ages away. In the meantime, if you'd like to share transpo-related hopes, worries, and analysis about today's election with the Streetsblog community, use this space. Recommended reading: the "Niccolo Macchiavelli" comment -- more like an essay -- in response to yesterday's election eve post.

Also, if you catch any interesting street conditions at your polling place, send a description or picture to tips@streetsblog.org. I'm guessing New York City is blessedly free of drive-thru voting, but you never know.

Though we found plenty of fodder this election season, transportation policy never emerged as a consistent talking point in the presidential race. This is more than a little surprising, considering the sad state of American infrastructure and the importance of same to this country's economic and strategic well-being. Then again, what kind of dialogue can we expect when one side's position can essentially be summed up in three words, two of which are "drill."

On this election eve, we turn to an unexpected source for a sober summation of the future of transport under either a McCain or Obama administration: the Pacific Shipper, "the Essential Transpacific News Weekly." In an insider-y feature story posted today, the Shipper susses out some of the main policy differences between the two candidates, from highways to waterways, and finds electeds and experts who think each is in for a rude awakening when it comes to funding.

Perhaps more than any national campaign in recent history, the major candidates have staked out very clear and decidedly different stances on transportation infrastructure investment.

McCain has made criticism of earmarks something of a crusade in his campaign, and says he wants to send more decisions on spending priorities to the states.

“I believe that a higher share of the taxes collected at the gas pump should go back to the state where those taxes were paid,” the Arizona Republican told the American Automobile Association, “and I’ve co-sponsored legislation that would allow states to keep almost all of their gas tax revenues for their own transportation projects without interference from Washington.”

“We’ve got a problem,” Mortimer Downey, a former deputy secretary of transportation in the Clinton administration and an adviser to the Obama campaign, told a public forum in Washington last week on transportation policy. “Infrastructure needs more investment. It is important, it is crumbling, and other countries are doing more than we are. We’ve got national issues we need to deal with, and transportation is the critical tool for doing that.”

He said the Obama camp has “a vision” for the next highway bill. “It should be a much better bill than the last couple. It shouldn’t have so many earmarks in it,” Downey said.

At the same forum, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, chief economic adviser to the McCain campaign, said the spending priorities are critical. “There is no area where earmarking has been more visible than in highway bills. We have to get more bang for the buck.”

Downey said the economy will make transportation programs more important. Obama favors, he said, “an economic recovery measure that would have infrastructure and get people working on, hopefully, small projects that would roll out quickly.”

After the jump, the Shipper looks at how the next admin might try to finance the 2009 federal funding package, and what the US Department of Transportation could look like under each.

Before the financial meltdown severely undercut John McCain's presidential ambitions, his campaign was giddy over the apparent success of its energy policy message: Drill, baby, drill!

It is, after all, a simple sounding solution that appeals to politicians in love with the quick fix, oil companies desperate for access to new sources, and auto-dependent Americans, many of whom now find themselves stranded in far-off suburbs, trapped in expensive car commutes and completely lacking freedom of choice when it comes to transportation. No matter that drilling here and drilling now isn't going to do much of anything to reduce gasoline prices or wean Americans from their crushing oil dependence. 

If you're curious about the masterminds behind the message, head over to Newt Gingrich's "tri-partisan" American Solutions web site. There, you can download "The New Language of Smart Energy," a 42-page talking points memo from Republican pollster Frank Luntz. Luntz handily sums up his findings as "The 10 Communications Commandments for 2008." Not surprising, given the buckets of fossil fuel money behind Gingrich's American Solutions, the Commandments can pretty much be summed up as "Thou Shalt Drill. Thou Shalt Drill Here. Thou Shalt Drill Now."

Here, courtesy of Frank and Newt, is some of the messaging that oil companies are using to maintain their grip on U.S. energy policy and get to those environmentally-sensitive leases. Mock and ignore them at your own peril.

We've noted throughout this election season that transportation policy is something of a third rail in presidential politics. Gas prices and auto industry jobs are irresistible fodder for campaign promises, but even the candidate who has decent ideas about rail travel and bike infrastructure doesn't mention transit on the stump. (The other one doesn't have much to say in the first place.)

If you want topics like intercity rail and federal support for transit projects to get more attention on the national stage, the place to go is the Transportation for America website. T4A is currently collecting signatures calling on Obama and -- suspend your disbelief -- McCain to address the future of the U.S. transportation system at the final presidential debate Wednesday night. Sign on by 1:00 p.m. tomorrow and your petition will be delivered to campaign representatives before the debate.

Wondering how to make the case for transit to a national audience? T4A policy director Mariia Zimmerman puts it in compelling dollars-and-cents terms in this piece, "Reinventing American Transportation," which accompanies the Blueprint for America series on PBS. (Excerpt after the jump.)

Image via Caroline McCarthy

With a few hours to go until what will be the season's first presidential debate, we're looking over a report from the Brookings Institution, which outlines each candidate's positions on transportation.

The six-page report [PDF] holds few if any surprises for Streetsbloggers, but it nicely highlights respective statements from McCain and Obama on topics like federal spending, road pricing and public transportation, with links to source materials.

One category in particular caught our attention: "Smart Growth Considerations," from page five.

"Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks. As president, Obama will work to provide states and local governments with the resources they need to address sprawl and create more livable communities." –BarackObama.com

"McCain hasn't released a formal policy identified as targeting urban issues." –WSJ.com

While it's true that much of "heartland" America still couldn't care less about bike lanes and sidewalks, as we've seen, livable streets issues are pushing further into the mainstream. Whether those issues, and the often starkly differing views held by the candidates, will emerge as part of the national discussion over the next five weeks remains to be seen.

As confirmed in many respects by the Brookings breakdown, one thing is a near certainty: the composition of next year's federal funding package will vary dramatically based on who takes the White House.

Photo: Chesi - Fotos CC/Flickr

Before VP candidate Sarah Palin crystallized her views on the future of US energy policy in her "drill or do nothing" speech to the Republican National Convention, we only had a vague idea of her record on transportation and development, gleaned mostly from her time as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla.

As news of Palin's past continues to surface, here's Slate with a Wasilla video postcard. Says reporter and narrator Alex Sheshunoff:

You read that Palin was the mayor of a small town, and you think of central squares and tree-lined sidewalks and neighbors who give pies to one another. Wasilla isn't that kind of place.

Video link. Thanks to Doc Barnett for the tip.

If there was any question as to where a John McCain-Sarah Palin White House would stand on transportation, the prospective VP's speech to the Republican National Convention left little room for doubt. Here's Palin from last night, via Grist:

"Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants and create jobs with clean coal and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources."

Grist notes that Palin, um, fudged a little in her refutation of Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere." Despite her claim that as governor she turned down federal funds for the bridge, Palin once supported the much-maligned project, and Alaska is using the earmarks intended for it to build a road to the proposed bridge site.

Though Palin scored millions in hated "pork" for bus and rail projects, her tenure as mayor of Wasilla apparently did not bring about much in the way of livable streets improvements.

John McCain may not be big on public transportation, but as mayor of a small town in Alaska, his running mate Sarah Palin secured millions in federal earmarks for rail and bus projects.

The Washington Post reports that during Palin's two terms as mayor of Wasilla, when it had a population of 6,700, the town enjoyed a number of transportation-related funding successes, including:

• $1.9 million for the Wasilla Intermodal Transit Project, to realign rail and bus routes to increase use of public transit in the region.
• $15 million for a rail project to connect Wasilla with Girdwood, the home town of Sen. Ted Stevens (R).
• $600,000 to upgrade bus stations.

The story contrasts Palin's skill at lining up earmarks -- with the aid of a lobbyist law firm now tainted by federal corruption charges -- against McCain's professed distaste for "pork barrel" spending. The Post says Palin once supported the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million structure that was to replace ferry service between the town of Ketchikan and Gravina Island, but that she later "reversed course."

Despite her accomplishments for public transit in Wasilla, Grist says Palin has "developed an anti-environmental reputation" since she was elected governor of Alaska less than two years ago. Palin has proposed eliminating the state's gas tax, and in June told a national TV audience that McCain was "wrong" to oppose drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

"I think he's going to evolve into eventually supporting ANWR opening ... I'd like the opportunity to change his mind about ANWR."

Here is Grist's summary of Palin's environmental record.

Photo: Wikipedia Commons