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Adopt Big Oil’s policies, enjoy Big Oil’s largess

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In the new television ad from the Obama campaign, viewers learn, “Big Oil’s filling John McCain’s campaign with 2 million dollars in contributions…. After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can’t afford another.”

The timing of this, therefore, couldn’t be better.

Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain’s reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000.

We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own.

They are, indeed. And when put in the larger context, they look even worse.

It turns out, once McCain started singing from the oil companies’ hymnal, and reversed his position on the benefits of coastal drilling, contributions from oil industry executives soared.

Campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain rose dramatically in the last half of June, after the senator from Arizona made a high-profile split with environmentalists and reversed his opposition to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

Oil and gas industry executives and employees donated $1.1 million to McCain last month — three-quarters of which came after his June 16 speech calling for an end to the ban — compared with $116,000 in March, $283,000 in April and $208,000 in May.

The timing is especially significant. This isn’t an instance in which Big Oil was just supporting the Republican candidate because of partisan and/or ideological loyalties — this is Big Oil rewarding John McCain for reversing course and telling voters exactly what the industry wants the public to hear.

Take a look at the chart Ali at TP posted the other day, documenting McCain’s financial support from the oil industry over the years. It’s genuinely remarkable: “In Texas alone, June oil and gas-connected donations to McCain’s Victory ’08 Fund, his hybrid fundraising venture with the RNC and state committees, reached $1,214,100. Of that total, $881,450, or 73 percent, came after June 15. McCain announced his position in favor of offshore drilling on June 16.”

Now, I don’t know for sure how the typical voter might respond to a revelation like this. Maybe consumers don’t mind ExxonMobil generating bigger profits than any corporation in American history while gas prices soar. Maybe voters won’t think anything of a Republican candidate getting richly rewarded for doing exactly what Big Oil wants him to do.

But maybe Dems and the Obama campaign should keep telling voters about this anyway. My sense is the public won’t care for the idea that one candidate is in Big Oil’s back pocket. Call it a hunch.

Comments

  • UncaPaul

    says:

    Steve, do you think someone could figure out how much of each gallon of gas is the result of Bush/McCain policies (speculation, tax breaks, and skyrocketing profits, etc.)?

    Let’s say it’s $1.90 a gallon. (I’m pulling that figure out of my *ss — don’t quote me.)

    Then imagine if, the next time you pulled up to fill your tank, someone had slapped a label on the pump that said, “Bush/McCain energy policies tax: $1.90!!”

    That might help drive it home.

  • Shalimar

    says:

    I’m getting very sick of McCain saying over and over “Obama has always been opposed to offshore drilling”. The same was true of you until 6 weeks ago, you flip-flopping piece of shit.

  • Doctor Biobrain

    says:

    Ahh, but just wait until we hear about how much money the tire gauge industry funneled to Obama after his recent shift on routine auto maintenance. Same with the Big Oil Change industry. And that’s not to mention Obama’s recent shift towards being fancy. I’m sorry, but it’d be hypocrisy to not mention Obama’s own problems.

  • KevinMc

    says:

    I can see it now: The spot opens with John McCain speaking in opposition to coastal drilling as the line in the graph moves basically steady, left-to-right, oil industry contributions in March, April, May. Then as the scene cuts to McCain’s June 16 flip-flop in favor of coastal drilling, the graph line spikes upward to show the tenfold increase in oil industry favors since June.

  • John

    says:

    I’m afraid this line of attack by Obama will be ineffective. We have already seen that when gas prices soar through the roof, consumer put aside their concerns about the environmental impact of increased oil drilling. There is no reason to think they aren’t equally willing to part ways with their concerns over campaign finance over this issue, either.

    Obama should stick with drilling home his positions on the issues (no pun intended). If he is to attack McCain, he should attack the kind of cynical campaign McCain is waging, What I don’t understand is that Obama has failed to pick up on the fact that McCain’s “celebrity” meme is really an attack on Obama’s supporters as much as it is against Obama himself. Obama has said that any attacks on his wife and family were unacceptable. The same should be true about attacks on his large base of support – Obama should stand up for them.

  • TR

    says:

    My sense is the public won’t care for the idea that one candidate is in Big Oil’s back pocket. Call it a hunch.

    “Won’t care”? Is that a typo?

  • Dale

    says:

    TR said:
    My sense is the public won’t care for the idea that one candidate is in Big Oil’s back pocket. Call it a hunch.

    “Won’t care”? Is that a typo?

    “won’t care for the idea”

    What? No oil money for willing-to-compromise Obama.

  • Dale

    says:

    TR said:
    My sense is the public won’t care for the idea that one candidate is in Big Oil’s back pocket. Call it a hunch.

    “Won’t care”? Is that a typo?

    “won’t care for”

    What? No oil money for willing-to-compromise Obama.

  • avi

    says:

    Of course, McSame’s friends at CNN are reporting this:

    # Story Highlights
    # NEW: Obama says oil addiction is one of most dangerous threats nation has faced
    # Obama says we can eliminate need for oil from Middle East, Venezuela in 10 years
    # Obama campaign releases new ad connecting John McCain to big oil
    # McCain, Obama have both received contributions from oil and gas industry

    As if McCain’s windfall of oil company donations are comparable. And then also mentions in the full article that Obama has switched positions on offshore drilling and strategic reserves. Note, not a peep about McSame’s flip-floppery.

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/04/campaign.wrap/index.html

  • Dee Loralei

    says:

    UncaPaul@#1, I LOVE that idea! Guerilla Politickin’! Now if only one of our liberal economists would crunch the numbers, we could do it.

    And Kevin Mc @#4, that would make a very effective ad.

    And Steve, readership must be really up today, I’m having a heck of a time loading the page everytime I sign on or go to a different article. YAY you!

  • joey

    says:

    Dems need to give out small dental drill look-a-likes to match the tire gauge prop saying they might as well be drilling for oil with this for the amount of money it will save at the pump…in ten years.

    Romney lied ab out Obama’s ad calling Obama dishonest while lying about McCain’s donations and policiy. When will reporters quit sitting there with their thumbs up their butts and call these GOP hitmen out on their mis-information with provable facts. Simply say “Romney, that is not true and here are the facts” Are they just not intelligent enough or just not informed enough to know when these guys are just out and out lying?

    Big oil is trying to economically control our country and are in the process of buying off our entire congress. McCain is drooling at the amount of campaign donations he can get by spouting the policies of Big Oil and it will not stop. It’s all about profits not the good of the country.

    WE ALREADY KNOW NOW WHAT WE WILL KNOW THEN when our democracy is turned into a corporatocracy and a fascist state. Look at what has happened already and McCain promises the continuation of our current disaster till we become a third world nation where 1% of the population controls 99% of the wealth and the rest of us are peasants who do what they are told or starve. If this election goes bad then we’ve run out of options.
    McCain: Wrong On Everything…And Lying About It. The media needs to start telling the truth and stop being part of the hype…stop putting their patriotism up for sale or for access.

  • libra

    says:

    TR, @6

    “won’t care for” in the sense of “won’t like it”, not as in “won’t give a damn about”. Don’t know about the rest of the country but that construct (I don’t care for onions in my salad) is extremely common here in the South, especially among the better educated. Since Steve is a “reverse Carpetbagger”, perhaps that’s where he gets it from.

  • Dale

    says:

    And now it seems the Hess office manager gave her $28k too as did her husband who’s a foreman for Amtrack. They must pay well.

  • joey

    says:

    btw…Is there anyone…anyone out there who would still want a Bush administration knowing what we know now. Wouldn’t most of us agree that we would take back the entire period and replace it if we could. So why would anyone want to continue what we wish we never had in the first place. Just saying…

  • TR

    says:

    My sense is the public won’t care for the idea that one candidate is in Big Oil’s back pocket. Call it a hunch.

    I stand by my confusion, but I suppose I see the point.

    I read Steve’s post to mean that the public would care about a candidate being beholden to Big Oil — they’d care, and not like it one bit — and therefore “won’t care” read wrong to me.

    But I suppose he meant “won’t care for” it in the sense of “won’t like.”

  • Lance

    says:

    Well, now we know what JSMcC*nt’s financial manager does. He sells his candidate for flip-flops.

  • slag

    says:

    If Republicans want to play with toys, we should give them toys. Or we could just wait long enough for McCain to fossilize and turn into oil. Shouldn’t be much longer now.

  • oldblevins

    says:

    A person cannot possibly be the Republican nominee without totally being in the oil industry pocket. And the insurance, energy, pharma pockets. I’m sure he’s signed the no tax pledge for Grover Norquist, too.Maverick-shmaverick.

  • Buck Naked Politics

    says:

    McCain Gets a Little Reward from Oil Companies…

    by Damozel | As Barack Obama backs and fills after his offshore drilling 180, McCain seems to be getting all the benefits of having an oil policy that the oil executives—in his own words—support. One type of support deserves another. The non-partis…