VoteVets.org Republicans, 25 percent Independents, and 20 percent Democrats. In May 2010, VoteVets launched an ad campaign in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The massive $1.5 million television and web ad campaign was the first to make the connection between the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and American national security. The ad campaign features a veteran who served with the Louisiana National Guard, cleaning up the massive spill, speaking from a polluted shoreline of Louisiana. In the ad, Louisiana resident and veteran Evan Wolf makes the point that the necessity of using the Guard to help
Deepwater Horizon oil spill pension fund managers (who have large holdings of BP shares and rely upon its dividends) accepted that while BP had to pay compensation for the spill and the environmental damage, they argued that the cost to the company's market value from President Obama's criticism was far outweighing the direct clean-up costs. Initially, BP downplayed the incident; its CEO Tony Hayward called the amount of oil and dispersant "relatively tiny" in comparison with the "very big ocean." Later, he drew an outpouring of criticism when he said that the spill was a disruption to Gulf Coast residents and himself adding, "You