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Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Eye On Ohio: RNC ‘Balance’ ad
By Jack Torry
Columbus Dispatch
The ad: “Balance,” a 30-second television commercial.
Producer: The Republican National Committee.
Where to see it: It started running Sunday, July 6, on broadcast television in Ohio and other key states. You can view it at DaytonDailyNews.com/eyeonohio.
Script: (Female announcer) “Record gas prices. A climate in crisis. John McCain says solve it now with a balanced plan: Alternative energy, conservation, suspending the gas tax and more production here at home. He’s pushing his own party to face climate change. But Barack Obama? For conservation, but he just says no to lower gas taxes, no to nuclear, no to more production. No new solutions. Barack Obama: Just the party line. The Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
Video: Opens with scenes of rising gasoline prices and cars racing down a freeway before dissolving into a photo of McCain facing a rich green forest. Then quick shots of windmills, solar panels, a nuclear power plant and an offshore oil rig. The viewer sees a photo of Barack Obama and, poof, gone is the green forest.
Finally, the commercial flashes Obama’s name and asserts that he voted with Senate Democrats 97 percent of the time.
Analysis: The commercial could be the first time the Republican National Committee launched an attack against its own party, providing a vivid display of how even Republicans realize their party is unpopular. The ad does so by reminding voters that McCain favors a major bill to curb global warming, a position opposed by Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio and many other GOP lawmakers.
But the producers use that as a way to make their point that Obama lacks any new ideas.
The commercial accurately points out that McCain favors temporarily lifting the federal gasoline tax, which Obama opposes.
Almost every reputable economist says lifting the gas tax would save motorists nickels and dimes and not produce one new gallon of gasoline.
The commercial also accurately points out that McCain favors drilling off the coasts of California and Florida, while Obama does not. But many economists are not convinced that oil exploration off the coasts would dramatically reduce gasoline prices any time soon. Oil prices have risen because demand has outpaced production worldwide.
The commercial does not mention that McCain once opposed offshore exploration.
And it is probably no accident that the commercial is being aired in Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin rather than Florida and California.
Contact Jack Torry of the Columbus Dispatch Washington Bureau at jtorry@dispatch.com.
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