Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain have found something they can agree on: a summer moratorium on the federal gasoline excise tax.

Both Clinton, the Democratic presidential contender, and McCain, the apparent GOP nominee, have rushed to embrace the idea, which they think will resonate with voter-drivers contending with record-high gas prices, which are likely to spike further during the vacation season.

The impulse to do something to soften the blow of $60 tank fill-ups is understandable, especially among politicians on the hustings, but this gambit is pandering, pure and simple.

The promised relief, according to congressional analysts, amounts to no more than $30 — half a tank — per consumer. The tax holiday would deprive the highway trust fund of about $9 billion in revenue, delaying road construction and repair projects and potentially costing 300,000 jobs, according to state officials. Implementation — eliminating a tax for three months and then reimposing it — is complicated, and enactment doubtful, given the opposition of the Bush administration.

Nor is the tax holiday likely to lower the pump price of gasoline, which is driven by tight oil supplies and rising global demand. Indeed, while the government would be forgoing the 18.4 per gallon tax, the oil companies would probably pocket the difference. Clinton, though, has that angle covered: an excess profits tax, which stands no chance of adoption either.

Resisting the urge to pander, Clinton's rival, Sen. Barack Obama, has dismissed the tax holiday idea as more "Washington gimmicks."

The pain at the pump is indeed excruciating. Yet there is no short-term fix — certainly not this one. The remedy long term is an innovative energy policy that weans Americans from gas-guzzling vehicles, lessens the nation's dependence on foreign oil and taps new sources. That's no easy task, made more difficult by say-anything, vote-hungry presidential candidates.