Decision Virginia

There is a fierce debate raging between the Obama and McCain camps on the topic of “Clean Coal”. The debate stems from comments that Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden made offhanded to supporter while shaking hands during a rope line after an event in Mamuee, OH.

That comment was quickly seized on by the McCain campaign, which almost immediately released this radio ad in coal producing states, Virginia among them.

But the Obama campaign has refused to back down. They claim that Senator Obama has consistently been in favor of exploring clean coal technology, regardless of what his running mate said on a rope line in Ohio. They have hit back with a number of press releases on the topic, and specifically cited a report on the ad by FactCheck.org that they believe clarifies their position. FactCheck says clearly that the McCain ad is “Not True”.

However, the Obama campaign is not satisfied that their stance on clean coal is getting out. Today they held a conference call with Congressman Rick Boucher from Southwest Virginia, a region heavily reliant on coal production. Boucher called Senator Obama a “great friend of coal” and said that Senator Biden’s comments were taken out of context.

In addition, the Obama campaign has released a clean coal TV ad, that will run in coal producing regions, clearly showing their hopes of rebutting, these comments and the McCain campaign’s use of them.

Tonight at 11, we will take a close look at both of these ads in a special Decision 2008 Reality Check.

We have done quite a few stories on the bailout and its impact on Richmond, but I thought it would be interesting to see how other television markets are handling the story. 

If you click here, you can see a story produced by our sister station in Charlotte, WBTV. (You might notice that their graphics and “look” are very similar to ours here in Richmond. The story was done by Sharon Smith and she does a very nice job of illustrating how the lack of credit in the market has a big impact on small business in particular.

She also talks about how Charlotte had been somewhat insulated by the current economic conditions, but even this disaster is starting to hurt them as well. (Wachovia is a major employer in the Charlotte area.)

On a side note, Sharon interviewed an old childhood friend of mine Tracy Barmore, who operates a small business in Charlotte. (Kudos to Tracy on the Buffalo Sabres shirt!)