A group allied with the Obama White House released a new television advertisement Wednesday attacking Republicans for foot-dragging on energy legislation in light of the massive oil spill in the Gulf.
In one of the sharpest indications of the politicization of the BP disaster to date, the group Americans United for Change's ad places images of oil rushing into the Gulf waters alongside accusations that the GOP is doing the bidding of the oil industry.
"2.5 million gallons of oil have flowed into the gulf each day," the narrator declares in the ad. "But oil isn't just polluting the Gulf -- It's polluting our politics. In the last three and a half years, the oil industry has given over $35 million dollars to Republicans. Tell Mitch McConnell and the Republicans to stop blocking clean energy and start holding the polluters accountable. Tell them to pass the American Power Act."
The spot reflects what appears to be a growing willingness among Democratic lawmakers and institutions to use the crisis in the Gulf to achieve legislative progress in D.C. Earlier in the week, President Obama himself accused the GOP of playing "special interest politics" by holding up a vote that would increase the liability of oil companies responsible for economic-damaging spills.
The problem, of course, is that the energy legislation that both the president and American United for Change are promoting contains an expansion of offshore drilling -- making it harder to charge (as in the ad) that Democrats, not Republicans, want to hold the "polluters accountable." That said, the offshore drilling component is just one part of a much broader proposal that seems likely to gain limited if any Republican support in the Senate.
The ad, according to a AUC official, will be going up on national cable starting on Wednesday, with an initial purchase of $50,000.