Groups opposing and supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election are making high gas prices the focal point of new television commercials in Iowa and other swing states. Videos and transcripts of the latest ads by the American Energy Alliance and Priorities USA are after the jump.
Last week Obama urged Congress to end tax breaks for oil companies, citing the industry’s high profits. U.S. Senate Republicans filibustered a bill that would have ended several deductions for five major oil companies and extended various renewable energy tax incentives. Senator Tom Harkin voted to move forward with that bill, but Senator Chuck Grassley voted to block it, as he did with similar legislation in May 2011.
The pro-industry American Energy Alliance launched its “Nine Dollar Gas” ad on March 29 in Iowa and seven other swing states.
Transcript:
Female voice-over: Since Obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled. Obama opposed exploring for energy in Alaska. He gave millions of tax dollars to Solyndra, which then went bankrupt. And he blocked the Keystone pipeline, so we will all pay more at the pump. Obama’s Energy secretary said we need to – quote – boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe. That’s $9 a gallon. But what does he care?
Clip of U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu: “I don’t own a car at the moment.”
Female voice-over: Tell Obama we can’t afford his failing energy policies.
Josh Hicks fact-checked this commercial for the Washington Post and concluded,
None of the claims in this ad are entirely true, and some are downright false – like the notion that Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline as a way to raise gas prices. The Chu reference serves as perhaps the most damning piece of evidence in the video, but even that is misleading, because it suggests that the Energy secretary sets energy policy rather than the president. Chu can whisper in Obama’s ear, but the tail doesn’t wag the dog at the end of the day. The ad from American Energy Alliance deserves three Pinocchios.
Today the pro-Obama super-PAC Priorities USA unveiled a new commercial that will run in the same eight states where the American Energy Alliance is on the air. The opening visual includes footage from the anti-Obama ad.
Transcript:
Male voice-over: Who’s behind this ad smearing President Obama? Big oil, that’s who. The money they make from high gas prices is going right into Mitt Romney’s campaign. Big oil executives have pledged two hundred million to help him. And Romney’s pledged to protect their record profits – and their billions in special tax breaks too. These guys all profit. You pay the price.
I would like to see new polling from Iowa. In February, the Des Moines Register’s statewide poll by Selzer & Co found Romney slightly ahead of Obama. The latest USA Today/Gallup poll of voters in 12 swing states, including Iowa, found Obama leading Romney thanks to a big shift toward the president among women during the past month.