Campaign Diaries

Forget Iraq and the economy. Energy issues have come to define the early weeks of the general election. Soaring gas prices have convinced both parties that they have an opportunity to gain an advantage on this issue, and they have every intention of making the most of it.

Republicans believe that public opinion has moved away from conservation and is coming to embrace offshore drilling. Last month, McCain announced he was in favor of lifting a moratorium on drilling, leading a number of high-profile Republicans who had been opposed to the idea to change their mind (most notably Charlie Crist). Since then, newly-converted GOPers have been attacking Democrats for not seeking solutions to the energy crisis; this week, the RNC’s first contrast ad hit Obama on these issues.

Democrats have not shyied away from using the energy issue as well. They believe voters will blame Republicans for high oil prices as long as Bush is in the White House. Looking to capitalize on the GOP’s ties to the oil industry, the DCCC launched a radio ad last week hitting 13 House incumbents for “giving billions in tax breaks to the big oil companies.” Now, it is Obama’s turn to come out with an ad on energy as a response to the RNC’s spot:

One reason the ad wars are heating up, then, is that we are starting to see the first response ads. Obama’s team barely wasted a day before unveiling its response to the RNC’s spot. The GOP had let it be known last week that they would air an ad on energy starting Tuesday, and Democrats made sure that voters were not left with just the GOP version.

Obama’s ad, which airs in OH, PA, MI and WI (the four states in which the RNC bought time), ties McCain to the president, using footage of an accolade between the two men — the first time (though certainly not the last) those images are being used. To the RNC’s accusation that Obama votes party-line 97% of the time, Democrats respond: “He’s voted with Bush 95% of the time.” Also, Obama does not shy away from his opposition to offshore drilling, which is not a remedy for high oil prices: “McCain and Bush support a drilling plan that won’t produce a drop of oil for seven years.” And just as the DCCC did, this spot goes after McCain for ties to the oil industry: “McCain will give more tax breaks to big oil.”

Another Democrat is choosing to make energy one of his defining issues. Running in Alaska, Mark Begich just released his first two ads — one of which is entirely devoted to energy, with a twist: Every Alaska politician supports ANWR, and the GOP has used the issue to hammer the state’s Democrats considering that the party is opposed to ANWR nationally. Begich seeks to take the issue off the table in this very first ad, pledging to work to “open ANWR.” As expected is his promise to work to find renewable energies.

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Another reason the ad wars is heating up is that an increasing number of third-party groups are now releasing ads. Today, the AFL-CIO announced it was starting a “significant” buy of three weeks for an anti-McCain and (there is no mention of Obama) narrated by a veteran, Jim Wasser, who served with John Kerry in Vietnam! The ad will air in MI, MN, OH, PA, VA and WI (nothing particularly surprising, but do note how consistently Virginia is now included in the very top of battlegrounds):

The ad hits McCain for wanting to continue massive spending on Iraq when the domestic situation is worsening and needs attention. The speaker also reproaches McCain for voting against expanding health care for veterans — an argument that Democrats will surely use in the coming months. While the ad does not hit any particularly new points, it is one of the first “significant” ads that take aim at McCain and it will be interesting to see whether GOP-leaning groups manage to get organized and respond. In a year with much less 527s and independent groups than expected, the millions unions are planing to spend could make a difference.