July 31, 2008 Press Release on MoveOn.org Political Action Ad "Gimmick"

New TV Ad: Sequel to "Not Alex" Exposes McCain Energy Plan
As A Gimmick, Not A Solution

MoveOn To Join Sierra Club, and Campaign Money Watch In New Energy/Gas Prices Effort

A new thirty-second television ad released today exposes Senator John McCain's energy plan as a gimmick and not a solution. The ad, titled "Gimmick," is being released by MoveOn.org Political Action, and is shot in the style of their previous ad "Not Alex". "Not Alex" was proven successful in moving voters by a MoveOn-commissioned study as well as an independent study published by The Hill earlier this month.

"Voters can see through gimmicks like offshore drilling, which will produce no oil for years and even then will hardly reduce the price of gas," said Eli Pariser, MoveOn's Executive Director. "The question is, who do we trust to lead us to a post-oil economy – McCain, who has taken over a million dollars from oil companies and voted for billions in subsidies for Big Oil, or Obama who has a real plan to solve our energy crisis and to create millions of jobs doing it?"

The ad features a man looking directly at the camera and telling John McCain that while he thought he was "a principled guy," McCain's plan for offshore drilling and the fact that will not produce any oil for ten years is a gimmick, not a solution.

The Hill reported last week on the original ad's effectiveness. A study conducted by the paper and Wilson Strategies Research showed "a plurality of the poll's respondents, 34 percent, rated the ad as the "most effective" out of a group of six campaign television commercials." Wilson CEO, Chris Wilson, said, "While the ad received abysmally low rankings among Republicans, independents and especially Democrats were moved by its strong, memorable message. Another success for MoveOn in the air wars."

In addition to releasing the ad, MoveOn will be joining with the Sierra Club and Campaign Money Watch to launch a major new effort on energy and gas prices. The groups will hold a press conference call today at 11:30am to discuss their new push. The call in number is 1-800-895-0198, code: ENERGY.

MoveOn.org Political Action is a political action committee powered by 3.2 million progressive Americans. We believe in the power of small donors and grassroots action to elect progressive leaders to office and to advance a progressive agenda. We do not accept any donations over $5,000, and the average donation to MoveOn.org Political Action is under $100.

.TEXT:

Father: "Senator McCain, you let me and my kids down. From the very beginning, I told them, 'This is a principled guy.' So when you said you were going to help me drive affordably again, I believed you.

And then your idea is to do offshore drilling, which I find out won't produce any oil for 10 years…

…and then barely save us any money anyway.

That's not a solution, Mr. McCain. That's a gimmick. We expected better.

DOCUMENTATION:

At a campaign fundraising luncheon Monday, McCain said a comprehensive energy plan, including his proposal to suspend the federal gasoline tax for the summer, would bring the greatest relief to low-income citizens hardest hit by high gas prices. [AssociatedPress,7/29/08]

Last month, Sen. John McCain called for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. [WashingtonPost,6/17/08]

McCain's announcement is a reversal of the position he took in his 2000 presidential campaign. [WashingtonPost,6/17/08]

Experts agree that it would take at least seven and probably 10 years before any benefits from overturning the ban on offshore drilling were evident. [McClatchy,7/14/08]

Opening America's coastal waters to oil drilling, as John McCain has urged, is unlikely to provide Americans with more oil for at least seven to 10 years. That's the estimate from the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry trade group. [McClatchy, 6/17/08]

Even oil industry representatives won't say that drilling would reduce pump prices. They said it takes five to 10 years to produce much oil in new areas. [San Diego Union Tribune, 7/9/08]

Randall Luthi, who heads the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service that operates the federal offshore energy leasing program, told the Associated Press that even if leases became available now, "It will be 5 to 10 years or longer for actual production." [AssociatedPress,7/21/08]

The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration reported last year that crude oil production would be 7 percent higher by 2030 if the ban were lifted on the offshore areas. Its report also said, "Because oil prices are determined on the international market, however, any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant." [McClatchy,7/14/08]

The US Government's Energy Information Administration reported late last year that "The projections in the OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030." [Department of Energy Report, 2007]

A New York Times Editorial challenged the idea in June, saying "It was almost inevitable that a combination of $4-a-gallon gas, public anxiety and politicians eager to win votes or repair legacies would produce political pandering on an epic scale. So it has, the latest instance being President Bush's decision to ask Congress to end the federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along much of America's continental shelf. This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. It will make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump, and even then the benefits will be years away." [NewYorkTimes,6/19/08]