McCain Ad a Full Tank of Nonsense

Summary
McCain's new ad accuses Obama of keeping gas prices high, all by himself. That's absurd, and McCain knows it—he has said repeatedly that our current problems were "30 years in the making."

The ad also tells us that gas prices are high because "some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America." Not true. The federal government's estimate is that if the moratorium on offshore drilling were lifted today, it would be 2030 before we'd see a noticeable effect on supply and prices.

For the same reason, it's simply not true that drilling more now will "rescue our family budgets."

Analysis
Sen. John McCain, who's expected to receive the Republican presidential nomination in September, goes after Sen. Barack Obama, his Democratic counterpart, with a new ad that focuses on the cost of gas. According to McCain's campaign, the spot will air on national cable channels and in unspecified "key states."

Lousy Linkage
McCain 2008 TV Ad: "Pump"

Announcer: Gas prices - $4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America.

No to independence from foreign oil.

Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?

Chant: Obama, Obama

Announcer: One man knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets.

Don't hope for more energy, vote for it. McCain.

John McCain: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

The ad opens with a shot of an old-fashioned gas pump standing on a shimmering, moving, body of—water? desert sand? petroleum? It's hard to tell. The female narrator says: "Gas prices—$4, $5, no end in sight, because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America. No to independence from foreign oil."

"Some" are indeed opposed to lifting the moratorium on new drilling in the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf, and they include Obama.

What's not true, however, is that current opposition to lifting the moratorium has anything to do with today's gas prices. They aren't high because any one individual is against ending the ban. As we have pointed out previously, the Energy Information Administration estimates that if the go-ahead were given right now for such drilling, it would be 2030 before there would be enough oil flowing to have a "significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices." Is there "no end in sight" because of opposition to ending the moratorium? No more so than because of opposition to hastening the development of alternative sources of energy and new kinds of cars. But most experts believe that if we haven't implemented other strategies well before 2030, we're in deep trouble.

As for saying "no to independence from foreign oil," we suppose someone, somewhere, might be saying that—quietly, to themselves, in a small, soundproof room—but no major-party presidential candidate that we're aware of is doing so.

Thank-You Note, Returned to Sender
The most glaring bit of calumny in the ad occurs when the narrator asks, "Who can you thank for rising prices at the pump?" At that point the volume goes up on the soundtrack's background noise, and we realize it's a crowd of voices chanting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" just as the Illinois Democrat's image appears on-screen.

The notion that Obama is singlehandedly, or to any significant degree, or more than most other senators, to blame for the high cost of gas is absurd in too many ways to count here. Okay, we'll give you a couple: Obama has been in the Senate only since 2005. McCain himself said earlier this month that the problem has been decades in the making.

McCain, July 7: Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been 30 years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long-term about the future of the country.