TN GOP RELEASES NEW ANTI-OBAMA AD, HAS RUNNING E-MAIL CONVERSATION WITH VOTE08

June 26th, 2008, 3:44 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr

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Say this for the Tennessee GOP: they are definitely setting a goal of being one of the most visible state party organizations in the country in this presidential race. Check out our past coverage of their efforts here & here (the latter link forced Obama to say on Good Morning America “lay off my wife,” which we’ve said is something with which we don’t necessarily agree)

The above ad goes after Barack Obama’s energy plan, using a version of the “Popcorn” song we all hear in Tennessee lottery commercials these days & a cheesy 1970s font, presumably to take viewers on the wayback machine to the days of the (1st?) energy crisis.

The spot cannily makes use of Jay Leno (though we’d have recommended playing it just once) & Obama’s now-familiar chant “Yes We Can” to make its point.

But I’m concerned about one part of the clip, at 1:18, that seems to perpetuate an urban legend oft-repeated in the last month, that “China is drilling off the coast of Cuba.”

So I replied to their e-mail (subject line: “Tennessee GOP Proudly Releases New Web Video on Obama”):

“Question for you on this clip, concerning a screen graphic at 1:18.

The screen says “can we allow foreign companies to drill oil off our coasts but not America?”

Can you, TN GOP, give me a specific instance where this is literally happening right now? What country is drilling “off our coasts” & where at this very moment?

Are you aware that conservatives including columnist George Will & Vice President Dick Cheney have recently admitted their error in asserting that countries like China are drilling off our shores? & that Florida Senator Mel Martinez (R) took to the Senate floor this month to say that that claim is false?

read this for more on that here
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40994.html

& here
http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/567156.html

Are you concerned at all about how repeating this debunked claim may hamper your message in this spot?

Also: what is the name of the font you use for your graphics in this clip?

I run a presidential campaign blog called Vote08 for WTVC-TV in Chattanooga & plan to post the clip, as well as this e-mail, & your response in full once you send it to me.

This was sent Thursday afternoon at 4:27pm, 15 minutes after the release came out.

Provided I get one, I will print their response to these questions in full, in this post. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: 4:53pm: a response!

Dan, According to the Congressional Research Service report, ” Cuba:
Issues for the 110th Congress,” [PDF file] dated August 21, 2007, the CRS reported
that Cuba has signed agreements with seven foreign oil companies from
Spain, Norway, India, Canada, Venezuela and Malaysia for the exploration
of offshore oil and gas in Cuban waters.

China is exploring for oil in Cuba on land.

The release specifically mentions the six countries - and intentionally
does not mention China for the very reasons you cited. Our release is
accurate and well sourced.

If you report on our release and video, I anticipate that you will
report the Cuban offshore issue accurately, as we did.

Bill Hobbs
Communications Director
Tennessee Republican Party

My follow-up:

Thanks for your quick response. I have a couple of follow-ups.

That report says

“[Congressional] Members expressed concern about the oil development so close to the United States and about potential environmental damage to the Florida coast.”

That, of course, was before $4 gas. But do you currently share these concerns about potential environmental damage?

Also: The oil industry has leases to drill on 40 million acres of offshore land, yet they have put only 7 million acres into production. Do you think the oil industry should first tap into the unused 33 million acres that’s already been given the green light for drilling?

& I’d also like you to explain a little bit more the line “Obama says it’s your fault,” in regards to his calls for changing the nation’s energy habits. Is it more important to recognize ways to reduce dependence on foreign oil, such as energy conservation & the purchase of more fuel efficient vehicles, (which as far as I can tell is something John McCain has advocated), or is it more important not to have a presidential candidate pointing out this fact?

Once again, thanks a lot for your quick response. I’m still wondering if you can tell me what the official name of the font in the spot you used is, & whether or not it was designed to give a “1970s feel” to it.

-Dan

Bill Hobbs follows up again:

The Congressional Research Service report that is often cited as debunking the China-drilling-off-Cuba story also contains the info I mentioned to you in the previous email.

I have attached a PDF of that report. The key info is on page CRS-23, under the heading offshore Oil Sector Development.

Those who jumped on the China story to debunk it never bothered to mention that six other countries are exploring for oil off Cuba’s coasts.

I write back again:

Thanks for your quick response, I already hunted out the document & posted it as a link.

I have a couple of follow-ups.

That report says

“[Congressional] Members expressed concern about the oil development so close to the United States nd about potential environmental damage to the Florida coast.”

That, of course, was before $4 gas. But do you currently share these concerns about potential environmental damage?

Also: The oil industry has leases to drill on 40 million acres of offshore land, yet they have put only 7 million acres into production. Do you think the oil industry should first tap into the unused 33 million acres that’s already been given the green light for drilling?

& I’d also like you to explain a little bit more the line “Obama says it’s your fault,” in regards to his calls for changing the nation’s energy habits. Is it more important to recognize ways to reduce dependence on foreign oil, such as energy conservation & the purchase of more fuel efficient vehicles, (which as far as I can tell is something John McCain has advocated), or is it more important not to have a presidential candidate pointing out this fact?

Once again, thanks a lot for your quick response. I’m still wondering if you can tell me what the official name of the font in the spot you used is, & whether or not it was designed to give a “1970s feel” to it.

-Dan

& Bill writes me back:

Hurricane Katrina hit every oil platform in the Gulf and not one leaked
a single drop of oil. We can drill offshore cleanly.

The font was chosen because it showed up well against the backdrop.

The oil industry drills where exploration says there is feasibly
recoverable oil.

Obama appears to be blaming Americans for their lifestyle. Carter did
that. The “malaise” speech.

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Are you working on a story, or just debating me for fun and to kill
time?

My response:

>Hurricane Katrina hit every oil platform in the Gulf and not one leaked
>a single drop of oil. We can drill offshore cleanly.

“Not one leaked a single drop” isn’t exactly true. The U-S Minerals Management Service issued a report that says

“As a result of both storms, 124 spills were reported with a total volume of roughly 17,700 barrels of total petroleum products, of which about 13,200 barrels were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 4,500 barrels were refined products from platforms and rigs. Pipelines were accountable for 72 spills totaling about 7,300 barrels of crude oil and condensate spilled into the [Gulf of Mexico]. Response and recovery efforts kept the impacts to a minimum with no onshore impacts from these spill events.”

So were the spills minimal? Yes. But there were spills, according to the MMS.

>Obama appears to be blaming Americans for their lifestyle. Carter did
that. The “malaise” speech.

See, to me I don’t think his saying “we need to make changes to fix this crisis” is very much different than what McCain has said recently. Of course, the approaches are different. I think all Americans regardless of party recognize we need to make changes.
But I totally understand how your tapping into the “carter-cardigan-malaise” thing makes political sense, you’d be silly not to make that point.

>Are you working on a story, or just debating me for fun and to kill
>time?

As I said, I run a blog & I take your e-mail & responses seriously. It’s a story only insofar as what I post there, the questions I asked & your responses. I’m generating material for my station’s website, which is part of my job. If I’m keeping you from calling it a day, let me offer my apologies.

I have to say I have been impressed with the fervor of the TN GOP’s efforts to insert itself into the national presidential campaign — you’ve made national news twice so far this election season. I wonder, (& no you don’t need to respond if you don’t feel like it) is this a conscious effort to raise your visibility higher than other state GOPs or are you just making choices that you believe every state GOP party should make?

Mr. Hobbs repsonds:

Okay, spills were minimal. From a Cat-5 hurricane. That’s a pretty good
track record.

The differences we see in Obama versus McCain on energy is that Obama is
so focused on moving away from oil that he forgets that oil is the
lifeblood of the economy and will be for decades regardless. McCain is
thinking short-term, medium-term and long-term. Obama isn’t.

Hey, I just bought my wife a more fuel-efficient car to replace her SUV
- we’re not against conserving. But we aren’t going to conserve our way
out of this mess. Conservation is part of the solution, not the whole
thing. (Global Insights recently predicted the number of cars in use
worldwide will nearly quadruple by 2035 - demand for fuel is going to
grow by huge amounts. We can tackle the demand side by conserving and by
developing more fuel-efficient cars, but we also should tackle the
supply side and increase supply.

An analogy: if you come across a village of hungry people and you don’t
have enough bread for each to have a whole slice, you cut slices in
half. But you also BAKE MORE BREAD as soon as you can.

As far as the “national visibility” question, we aren’t focused on what
other states’ GOP are doing. We are just doing what we believe we need
to do to highlight differences between the Democratic slate, top to
bottom, and the views of most Tennesseans.

Most Tennesseans believe we should lift the ban on offshore drilling.
Obama doesn’t. McCain does.