News-Record.com

A couple weeks ago I wrote about energy policy and the U.S. Senate race, trying to lay out where U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, the Republican incumbent, and Democratic state Sen. Kay Hagan stood on a variety of energy/drilling/etc.-related topics. The story and blog post came with a handy chart breaking down the candidate's positions.

Since then, Dole and Hagan have decided to blast away at one another, specifically on drilling. From this Associated Press story, readers might be forgiven for expecting the two ladies to start doing photo ops on oil rigs with giant over-size wrenches and the story of Jed Clampett playing in the background.

Of course, when two candidates agree, or have positions that are close to one another on a particular topic, there's only one thing to do: accuse your opponent of being on the take from the industry in question and/or distort your opponent's position/influence over the topic at hand.

To wit, we have two campaigns ads recently released from the campaigns. I'll provide them here (thanks to Dome for putting them on YouTube) along with source materials from those that produced it and material debunking the ad from both the candidate that was targeted and News & Record editorial writer Doug Clark, who has already done some hard thinking on this. A few thoughts from me after the carnage.

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First up, Dole's attack on Hagan, aka the "Ka-Ching" ad:

Here's what Dole's campaign put out in support of the ad.

Here's what Doug had to say: "Elizabeth Dole's new "Fibber Kay" TV ad is out of date and inaccurate."

And here's what Hagan's campaign had to say: "Continuing her negative attacks and outright lies, Elizabeth Dole today released a commercial saying that Kay Hagan is opposed to offshore drilling, even though Kay has repeatedly voiced her support for drilling."

As bonus push-back, Hagan's campaign prepared a memo showing Dole had her own investments in oil fields.

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Next up, Hagan's ad attacking Dole, aka the "Paying the Price" ad:

Here's what Hagan's campaign put out in support of the ad.

Here's what Doug had to say: "But making an issue of Elizabeth Dole's ownership of oil industry stock, and making a political target of the oil industry in general, isn't smart ... and not just because Hagan herself is invested in the industry."

And here is the push-back offered by the Dole campaign.

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So what should voters take away from all this? A few things, I think:

• * Number one, if you're like most of the folks who are going cast to votes in this election, neither Kay Hagan nor Elizabeth Dole is like you. They own stock and shares in oil wells that are worth more than your net value several times over. If either of them tries to convince you they're feeling the same pain at the pump you are, your BS meter should not only immediately go to red but start smoking, beeping and eventually break down from exhaustion.

• * Both candidates have a history of not really liking the idea of drilling off the North Carolina coast because of its potential environmental hazards. And both have softened that position due to changing economic and political realities.

  Both now say they support the so-called "gang of 10" compromise in Congress, which is now up to a "gang of 14" if my memory serves. Hagan rightly points out that Dole isn't in that gang, but neither are 86 other senators.

• * Dole has been in favor of drilling in the Alaska wildlife refuge for a long time. Hagan says she would vote to allow it only if it were part of a comprehensive solution. In Dole's mind that puts Hagan in camp with "environmental extremists," but I'm thinking the real extremists wouldn't like Hagan leaving that particular door open.

• * No candidate, these two included, can say exactly what drilling might accomplish. Most of the non-partisan analysis I have read of "drill now" options says that we probably shouldn't expect the price at the pump to go down as a result. Now, it seems to me there probably is an energy security argument to be made: If we get more and/or all of the oil we need from home then we don't have to rely on people who want to kill us for fuel. But if a candidate tries to sell you on the "your price for gas will go down significantly" argument, I'd tell you to get out your BS meter, but it’s probably already broken.

• * You will notice that it doesn't sound like there is a lot of daylight between Hagan and Dole on this issue. To me, the differences seem to be in emphasis: Hagan is more likely to talk about alternatives with a chaser of off-shore drilling; Dole talks on the stump about drilling first and then says alternative fuels are needed too.