Claire McCaskill and Progressives Running Clean Energy Ads

Missouri residents have lately been catching ads on TV praising Senator Claire McCaskill for supporting clean energy policy.  Oddly, McCaskill is not up for re-election until 2012.  So, what's going on?  According to the St. Louis Beacon, it turns out that several progressive / liberal groups are spending $2 million to run ads in four states.  The groups involved are The League of Conservation Voters, VoteVets.org Action Fund, Sierra Club and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).



Note the tag at the end showing who financed the ad: "Paid for by League of Conservation Voters, SEIU, Sierra Club, and VoteVets Action Fund."

According to CNN's PoliticalTicker:

The ad that targets Sen. Richard Burr portrays the senator as an oil-covered animal that washes up on the beach. The narrator then says, "Senator Burr's record is a little … oily" as the actor is scrubbed clean in a large tub.

The Beacon adds:

"Our groups applaud Sen. McCaskill for voting to hold oil companies accountable by opposing the ‘Big Oil Bailout’," said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. "When it comes to our energy future, senators need to choose between siding with the Big Oil companies who have been blocking reform for decades and standing with the majority of Americans who want comprehensive clean energy policies." 

...

The coalition says it expects to spend $11 million this summer on a broader ad effort "to call out those senators who stand with Big Oil and other corporate polluters and praise those senators who stand with the majority of Americans by supporting a bold clean energy and climate bill." 

CNN's PolticalTicker continues:

SEIU said in a statement the ads are part of a larger "$11 million ad campaign to help ensure that the U.S. Senate acts on comprehensive energy and climate legislation this summer."

In a statement to CNN, Sen. Nelson pushed back against the ads, saying “It seems special interest attack ads are the only thing bipartisan about Washington.”

So, political activists are already hitting the public with slick ads way in advance of election day.  It's gonna be a rough and bumpy ride, folks!