Davis Campaign Lies About Walz Record
"DFL Party News"09/03/2008
Davis Campaign Lies About Walz Record
Winona Daily News: Davis staffer “clearly misstated” parts of the Walz energy plan
St. Paul (September 2, 2008) — On Friday the Winona Daily News political blog caught Republican First District Congressional candidate Brian Davis’ campaign distorting the truth on Representative Tim Walz’s bipartisan energy plan. The post is the latest in a series of media reports criticizing Davis’ campaign distortions.
The Minnesota DFL Party released the following statement from Associate Communications Director Eric Fought:
“Not only does millionaire Dr. Davis’ first TV ad lie about Congressman Walz’s record, but now a Davis campaign staffer has ‘clearly misstated’ parts of the Walz plan to a Winona Daily News political reporter.
“In the past week, multiple newspapers in southern Minnesota have caught Davis’ campaign lying about Tim Walz’s record. The Davis campaign's desperate lies about the Walz bipartisan plan show that Dr. Davis will do anything to save his floundering campaign. Voters in southern Minnesota will see through his patethic and false attacks.
“Davis, who has questioned the established science behind global climate change and has used questionable sources funded by Big Oil to back up false claims regarding offshore drilling, is clearly not prepared for a serious campaign, let alone elected office.”
Davis Caught Lying About the Walz Record on Energy:
On his political blog, Winona Daily News reporter Mark Sommerhauser calls claims in Brian Davis’ campaign ad demonstrably false. In an August 29 blog post, Sommerhauser noted that he called Davis campaign spokesman Brad Biers, who “misstated at least one element of Walz’s new position on offshore drilling.” [River Valley Blog, 8/29/08]
Mankato Free Press also noted issues with the Davis ad. On August 28 Free Press reporter Mark Fischenich wrote that “Davis’ ad is a direct attack on Walz and could be seen as misleading in places.” [Mankato Free Press, 8/28/08]
In an interview with Minnesota Public Radio, Davis made outlandish claim about off-shore drilling. In a story placed on the MPR website, Brian Davis stated that “while he lacked political experience, he says he knows what needs to be done to lower gas prices.” Davis continued, “We’re the only country in the world that does not allow off-shore drilling.” [Minnesota Public Radio, 7/20/08]
According to federal agency tasked with overseeing off-shore drilling, plenty of drilling is taking place. “The OCS is a significant source of oil and gas for the Nation’s energy supply. The approximately 43 million leased OCS acres generally accounts for about 15 percent of America’s domestic natural gas production and about 27 percent of America’s domestic oil production. The MMS’s oversight and regulatory frameworks ensure production and drilling are done in an environmentally responsible manner, and done safely.” [Minerals Management Service Website, accessed 7/21/08]
DAVIS CLAIM: Davis spreads debunked claim of Chinese drilling off Florida coast. In a letter to supporters, Davis wrote: “If Congress wants an energy bill it should work to remove obstacles to domestic energy production by increasing supply, such as opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf for oil exploration and recovery. While our federal government sits on its hands, just 45 miles off the cost of Florida, Cuba is working with China developing oil fields.” [Brian Davis letter to First District Republicans, 1/9/08, accessed 6/26/08, emphasis in original]
FACT: Davis letter cites two-year-old Heartland Institute post as source; Heartland Institute received $676,500 from ExxonMobil. Davis’ source for his claim is a 2006 post of an article on the website of the Heartland Institute. Based on publicly-available reports from ExxonMobil, the website ExxonSecrets.org has calculated that ExxonMobil gave $676,500 to the Heartland Institute between 1998–2006. [ExxonSecrets.org, accessed 6/26/08]
DAVIS CLAIM: Global warming is “falsehood.” At the First Congressional District Republican endorsing convention, Davis said, “We need to focus less on mandates that pay tribute to the falsehoods of man-made global warming and emphasize more the free market, and increasing domestic energy supply.” [Davis convention speech, First Congressional District Republican convention, Albert Lea, 3/29/08, transcript available]
DAVIS CLAIM: “No consensus” on “deeply flawed” global warming. “… [T]here really is no consensus that global warming is man made” (emphasis in original). “Our nation's energy policy and economic well-being should not be based on the deeply flawed theory that carbon dioxide produced from fossil fuel combustion will lead to catastrophic climate change.”[Brian Davis letter to First District Republicans, 1/9/08, accessed 4/16/08; Davis campaign press release, 1/10/08, accessed 4/16/08]
DAVIS CLAIM: "Mankind has little if anything to do with global warming." “I don't deny that there are areas where glaciers are shrinking and breaking up, but then there are areas where ice packs are forming," Davis said. "Climate is very variable. And it's very difficult to predict.” [Star Tribune, 4/15/08]
DAVIS CLAIM: Davis rejects the “man-made global warming religion." In a speech to the Minnesota GOP State Convention, Davis told delegates that he does not believe that global warming is caused by humans. “Let me be clear: I totally reject the man-made global warming religion.” [Davis campaign press release, 6/1/08, accessed 7/1/08]