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It's the political issue du jour: rising gas prices.

As the cost here inches closer and closer to $4 a gallon, candidates for offices from president to Congress are rolling out ideas they say might fix the problem.

And it's an issue that could actually move votes.

Sixty-three percent of Americans say gas price increases are causing them financial hardship. And 78 percent think the current rise represents a permanent change in prices.

But so far, candidates have struggled with how to address the issue. Hillary Clinton's pitch during the Indiana Democratic primary to temporarily roll back gas taxes — a move also supported by Republican presidential nominee and Arizona Sen. John McCain — proved to have unenthusiastic support.

Local politicians are also trading jabs over who is to blame.

In an e-mail to supporters last week, Republican Tim Bee, president of the state Senate and a candidate in Southern Arizona's Congressional District 8, which includes much of Tucson, took aim at Democratic opponent Rep. Gabrielle Giffords over the gas-price increases.

"Since Democrats gained control (of Congress) the price of a gallon of gas has risen to over $3.50 and with it, higher costs for groceries, heating and cooling, eating out and daily activities," Bee wrote in a fundraising pitch.

"Consumer confidence has plummeted, and unemployment is on the rise. Add to the mix a mortgage crisis and you realize the change the voters of this district got was not what they expected."

The charge brought Democrats to the defense.

Just last week, Giffords joined a bipartisan effort to halt new oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — a move that is estimated to cut prices potentially by several cents a gallon. The reserve was formed in the 1970s to quell concerns that gas supplies might run low.

Democrats also pointed out that prices have increased dramatically since Republican President Bush took office in 2001— when a gallon was $1.45.

Bee says he, too, would have supported halting purchases for the reserve, but says it's only a short-term fix to the problem.

Giffords' staff points to a number of votes the congresswoman has made on the issue, including a bill vetoed by Bush to try to crack down on price gouging.

"The criticism that it's just happening now is not only unfair but inaccurate," said Giffords' spokesman, C.J. Karamargin.

But outside the Petroleum Reserve issue, Bee says he opposes the votes Giffords has made to roll back tax breaks to oil companies. Those, he says, are bound to hit consumers at the pump.

He also suggested standardizing boutique fuels nationwide, which he says might result in a savings.

Bee, who said in a Star interview in 2007 that he wasn't convinced that global warming exists, says he has changed his view.

"I've done more research on it since that time," Bee said.

"We might not know why it's happening," he said, but he added that Americans have a responsibility to be "good stewards of the Earth."

  

What they're saying about gas prices:

Congressional District 8

• Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat

Giffords, the incumbent, voted this week to halt new oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — making more gas available for consumers.

Giffords has supported rolling back tax breaks to oil and gas companies and imposing royalties on windfall profits.

She voted for the Federal Energy and Price Gouging Prevention Act and has said promoting clean renewable energy is key.

• Tim Bee, Republican

Bee, president of the state Senate, said he would have supported halting purchases for the reserve if he were in Congress, but calls it a short-term solution.

He says raising taxes on oil companies will only increase the price consumers pay at the pump.

Bee says he wants more money and research to go toward alternative technologies — including nuclear and hydrogen power.