In my opinion, albeit from north of the border, they are out of touch with the populace. I think this kind of ad is going to work in the Dem’s favour.

I think that David Robert’s at Grist was onto something in his “messaging/framing” in this post:

We prefer to treat Americans like adults and tell them the truth. Gas prices, like all fossil fuel prices, are only going to keep rising, drilling or no drilling. We will offer immediate financial relief for working and middle class Americans, but most of all we must accelerate the transition to clean, reliable, domestic sources of renewable energy. With more choices — in how we get around, how we heat and cool our homes, how we power our factories — we free Americans from their dependence on expensive gasoline and free America from its addiction to expensive fossil fuels. That is how we rescue and revive our economy.