Barack Obama Is Aware Of Exxon And Appreciates Their Business
by Jason Kenney
By way of Right Wing Liberal we find that Big Oil sure does like them some “hope” and “change”:
The Center for Responsive Politics took a look at the candidates campaign contributions from employees of Exxon-Mobil (companies themselves are barred from donating). Here’s what they found (ABC via Jim Geragthy):
Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain’s $35,166.
Given that the Obama campaign has been trying to paint McCain as in the pocket of the oil companies, this doesn’t bode well for the Audacity of Hype.
Comments
You may want to re-check your sources: your post is inaccurate.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/08/goldfarb-big-oil-lie/
And your source’s source was the source for the ABC article which is not inaccurate one bit:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2008/08/oil-industry-leans-toward-mcca.html
Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain’s $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama edges out McCain with BP $16,046 vs. $11,500. McCain leads the money race with nearly every other top giver in the oil and gas industry, though — Koch Industries, Valero, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, the list goes on. (You can see detail on all these companies in the spreadsheet linked below.) McCain also has a big edge with Hess Corp. — $91,000 to Obama’s $8,000 — which has gotten some attention. And, overall, McCain’s campaign has gotten three times more money from the industry than Obama’s has — $1.3 million compared to about $394,000.
So the biggest of Big Oil producers loves them some Obama, but more of the industry likes McCain.
But what RD and TP reveal with this is that it’s not just “Big Oil;” It’s ALL OIL that they can’t stand.
DJ - Right, some oil is good, the rest is BAD!
HOPE!
CHANGE!
Do you think a distinction should be made for small donations from blue collar employees and large bundles of donations from executives and lobbyists?
How many former oil executives or oil industry lobbyists are working for McCain? McCain’s campaign is being run by Big Oil, for Big Oil.
The fact that Obama is picking up some donations from random oil company employees just shows that the Republican Party has lost control of part of its base. Look at former Swift-boater T. Boone Pickens–he’s going around now spreading the message that we can’t drill our way out of the current energy crisis.
You’re making the incorrect assumption that Big Oil and money are the Republican base. You may argue otherwise, but it doesn’t hold water.
Obama is just like every other politician and is out to spin his way to victory. You’ll buy the hype because it’s your guy and try and spin his Big Oil numbers to suddenly be hard working, blue collar types when that’s not the case.
Clearly Obama and Exxon are on the same page.
Clearly they are not.
Exxon supports offshore drilling: Obama opposes it.
McCain’s donations from Big Oil took off when he flip-flopped on offshore drilling.
I think everyone can draw the obvious conclusion.
Maybe that’s why Obama changed his mind and said off shore drilling could use another look.
JC - Barack Obama has received more money from Exxon, Chevron, and BP, three of the top oil producers and income makers among Big Oil. That they have backed Obama shows the campaign is being dishonest in their attack on McCain or, at the very least, are purposefully being inaccurate to score cheap points. These numbers are real and you can’t just dismiss them.