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http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/08/exxon-hearts-ob.html

Exxon [Hearts] Obama

August 07, 2008 4:02 PM

As we close up a week wherein Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, on the
stump and in a TV ad accused rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of being
"in the pocket of big oil," and doing the industry's bidding -- not to
mention a week during which the Democratic National Committee launched
an Exxon-McCain '08 website to drive home this Democratic talking
point -- the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics points out
that the issue is a bit more complicated than it first would appear.

McCain has received three times more money from the oil industry in
general -- $1.3 million for McCain compared to approximately $394,000
for Obama. But that said, Obama has received more campaign cash than
McCain has from the employees of some of the biggest oil companies --
Exxon, Chevron and BP.

This might seem to complicate Obama's continual use of Exxon-Mobil on
the stump.

In Youngstown, Ohio, this week Obama said that McCain is "offering $4
billion more in tax breaks to the biggest oil companies in America --
including $1.2 billion to Exxon-Mobil...a company that, last quarter,
made the same amount of money in 30 seconds that a typical Ohio worker
makes in a year."

In Lansing, Michigan, Obama said Exxon-Mobil "is the company that,
last quarter, made $1,500 every second.  That’s more than $300,000 in
the time it takes you to fill up a tank with gas that’s costing you
more than $4-a-gallon.  And Senator McCain not only wants them to keep
every dime of that money, he wants to give them more.  So make no
mistake – the oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain."

But based on data downloaded electronically from the Federal Election
Commission on July 29, 2008, reports CRP: "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 himself has tried to push back against the Obama charge,
telling votes at a town hall in Lima, Ohio, today, that he "spoke up
against the Administration and Congress and Senator Obama when they
gave us an energy bill with more giveaways to Big Oil and really no
solution to our energy problems," and Obama did not.

Discussing the 2005 energy bill, which passed the Senate
overwhelmingly, McCain said "I think Senator Obama might be a little
bit confused. Yesterday, he accused me of having President Bush's
policies on energy. That's odd because he voted for the President's
energy bill and I voted against it. I voted against it, had $2.8
billion in corporate welfare to Big Oil companies, and they're already
making record profits, as you know. Senator Obama voted for that bill
and its Big Oil giveaways. I know he hasn't been in the Senate that
long, but even in the real world, voting for something means you
support it and voting against something means you oppose it."

The Obama campaign disputes that the bill was "the president's" energy
bill, and in Lansing told voters that McCain voted "against an energy
bill that – while far from perfect – represented the largest
investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country."

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