the key is to make it so outrageous that people are practically forced to notice it (kind of like being compelled to look at a train wreck, even though you know you shouldn't), anything your opponent does in response is then seen as either sour grapes, or just gets lost in the din over the original claim. even better, the media repeat the lies & distortions, over and over, as they "analyze" them, resulting in them becoming deeply embedded in the public consciousness.

What we get from his analysis is a run around about how the oil Alaska produces is not 20% of the total energy the US either produces or consumes.  

Of course, that's a strawman.  Palin specifically introduces the statistic in the context of national security and energy independence.  In that context "energy supply" is "generally defined" as oil and natural gas.  After all, what other major source of energy does the US have to regain independence on, hydroelectric power we import from Canada?  What's the national security concern over our relations with Canada?

More to the point, Palin is quoting a statistic cited by the Resource Development Council of Alaska, an organization that might know a bit more about it than FackctCheck's PoliSci major.

Resource Development Council of Alaska

That statistic isn't dated, but there were certainly years in the recent past when Alaska produced "nearly 20%" of the nation's oil and gas.  So if someone wants to quarrel with that number, take it up with those guys, not Palin.

And a pedantic, out of context comparison to all the energy the US produces or consumes, solar, wind, hydro, coal, and nuclear included to "debunk" the statistic isn't going to impress those of us who've worked in the energy industry.  Just makes them look foolish.

FactCheck doesn't include 91,824 million barrels of offshore oil production for Alaska, and thus miscalculates and understates the precentage of US oil production from Alaska.

Problems like this occur fairly often when people who don't understand the particular subject or industry are running around doing analyses like this. The same thing has occurred in the reporting of US oil and gas amounts in recent months.

Now, zillions of media outlets and blogs are passing along this misinformation.

Also, I agree with Strick's points above.

Here's some other quotes from the Alaska Resource Development Council (which apparently was what the McCain campaign refered FactCheck to):

"Alaska's oil and gas industry has produced more than 16 billion barrels of oil and 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, accounting for an average of 20 percent of the entire nation's domestic production."

"With the discovery of Prudhoe Bay and the construction of the trans-Alaska Pipeline, the oil and gas industry has become Alaska's economic lifeline and a major secure source of domestic energy. North Slope oil fields account for an average of 20 percent of the nation's domestic production."

10 Lies of John McCain

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-080910bridge_briefs,0,7294354.story