After touring a California oil field on Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) again called for offshore drilling (WashPost). He disputed claims that offshore drilling might not yield benefits for years, saying some oil producers told him there are some cases in which oil could be available “within a matter of months.” He said the timeframe would depend “on the location and whether you use existing rigs or have to install new rigs.”

In an interview with Larry King on Monday night, McCain discussed his views on Iraq, and clarified a statement last week that Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) proposed sixteen-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq seemed “pretty good” (ChiTrib). He said that sixteen-month goal should not be “hard and fast,” but rather should be “condition-based.”

Obama will meet (MSNBC) with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.