Dennis Shulman for U.S. Congress: Sensible Leadership for New Jersey’s 5th District

They respond in unison: “Scott Garrett.”

That’s the start of a four-minute-plus video posted on a Web site by Dennis Shulman, the Democratic candidate in the 5th Congressional District to draw attention to what he says are Garrett’s ties to the gas and oil industry. The spoof was produced by Shulman interns who played the oil executives.

Shulman, a rabbi and psychologist who is challenging Republican incumbent Garrett, plans to launch more topic-oriented Web sites in the next few months because it gives voters an easy, accessible way to learn about the issues, said Jeff Hauser, Shulman’s campaign manager.

“To see this in a congressional race is a little unusual,” he said, adding that the videos strive to tap in to voters’ sense of humor. “But it’s another way to talk to voters.”

The strategy of creating Web sites that highlight one issue, such as energy problems, and overall use of online videos is becoming more common, said David Greenberg, a Rutgers University professor of history and journalism and media studies.

“Campaigns are using it more, because everybody’s using online video more than they used to, but there is a tendency with new technologies to overstate their transformational capacity,” he said. “I’m not saying they’re unimportant, but I think the vast majority of people in a congressional race will get their information from a newspaper, television ads and word of mouth ? and I think an Internet ad is not going to reconfigure the race or have a great bearing on the outcome.”

The oil video has been viewed more than 5,000 times since its Aug. 18 launch.

In the spoof, the “oil executives” strategize donating to Garrett’s campaign and discuss their ties to him. The site notes that Garrett received an estimated $69,000 from the gas and oil industry during his political career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and that he’s consistently voted in favor of “big oil” interests.

The first video and site produced by the camp shows Garrett being asked why he doesn’t believe in global warming.

Garrett, who met with Westwood officials Thursday for a demonstration of the town’s use of biodiesel fuel in its recycling trucks, said he hadn’t seen the oil video.

“We don’t use ‘gotcha’ videos,” he said, saying his campaign has posted videos on his official Web site, along with television interviews that can be viewed on YouTube.

“This is not a game to us,” said Amanda Gasperino, Garrett’s campaign manager. “We use it as a more informative tool to get our message out to the voters, to say, ‘Look, this is what the congressman stands for and is working for.’?”

Gasperino said Garrett’s stance on energy problems is three-prong: pushing conservation, the use of alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and deep sea exploration for oil and natural gas.

“The American people are suffering and don’t need jokes or games played,” she said. “They need a real plan.”

Shulman’s campaign strategies have broadened into other areas as well. Recently, interns who were dressed as oil tycoons in cowboy hats visited Garrett’s office in Newton, Sussex County, to deliver Texas barbecue sauce to “illustrate how grateful they were for his votes” on oil industry issues, Hauser said.

“His staff indicated he didn’t need the gift,” said Hauser, adding that it was a joke, and that nothing confrontational was meant by it.