API's Gerard: Election year oil drilling campaign working

Republican nominee Mitt Romney's pro-drilling platform has so far failed to give him a polling lead on energy issues, but American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard said Wednesday his group's public relations efforts are succeeding in raising support for more domestic oil production.

At an API event to press for the discussion of oil and gas at the upcoming presidential debates, Gerard brushed off President Barack Obama's advantage on the campaign trail. The president has offered an "all-of-the-above" strategy that promises federal backing for renewable energy but no new initiatives for offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling.