AdWatch: Obama dismissive of McCain in energy ad
TITLE: "Old Politics"
LENGTH: 30 seconds.
AIRING: Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, northern Virginia and Wisconsin.
SCRIPT: Announcer: "Have you seen John McCain's TV ad"
Voiceover from McCain ad: "Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?"
Chants from McCain ad: "Obama, Obama, Obama!"
Obama ad announcer: "John McCain is blaming Barack Obama for gas prices? The same old politics. Barack Obama thinks high gas prices deserve serious answers, and a serious plan: Crack down on oil speculators, raise mileage standards and fast track alternative fuels."
Obama: "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message."
KEY IMAGES: A flat-screen monitor against a white background displays a segment of McCain's gasoline commercial, identified as "John McCain attack ad." A photograph of McCain appears then is replaced by the words: "The same old politics." Footage of Obama in shirt sleeves speaking as the screen divides to show a stock ticker, highway traffic and a gasoline pump. The ad ends with a video clip of Obama, seated, in a conversation with a voter.
ANALYSIS: The ad responds to a commercial called "Pump" that McCain's campaign launched last week. Obama's campaign said the ad is airing only in states where McCain's ad has appeared.
With gas prices above $4 a gallon, energy is proving to be a top issue with voters. The Republican Party, McCain and Obama have engaged in a seesawing ad battle this month over soaring fuel costs.
Democrats, including Obama, have been pressing for a greater commitment to alternative fuels and conservation. But polls show Americans are becoming increasingly favorable to more oil drilling. Democrats and their environmental allies long have opposed drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge or lifting a moratorium that has blocked more than 80 percent of the country's coastal waters from energy development.
McCain opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but recently called for lifting the offshore exploration ban. Obama opposes both.
Obama has proposed spending $150 billion in renewable sources of energy — a step he says would create 5 million new jobs. Democrats also have complained that spikes in oil prices have coincided with big rises in trading on oil future markets. The debate played out in the Senate last week when Democrats failed to move legislation to rein in oil market speculators while at the same time they rejected Republican calls to expand offshore oil production.
Obama also has proposed a second economic stimulus package to provide consumers with energy rebates. He wants to enact a windfall profits tax on major oil companies for oil selling at or above $80 a barrel.
The ad is less hard hitting than one Obama aired earlier this month that said McCain was "part of the problem" of high gas prices. That ad responded to a Republican National Committee ad that accuses Obama of offering no new solutions for high gas prices and global warming.
Analysis by Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn