The Democratic National Committee unveiled a new strategy this week, slamming John McCain for his ties to the oil industry by starting up a parody campaign Web site, ExxonMcCain '08. Barack Obama himself has similarly worked to tie McCain to Exxon. Turns out they could have picked a better oil company, though -- a study released this week showed that while McCain has received more donations from the oil industry generally, Exxon employees have given more to Obama than to McCain.
Released by the Center for Responsive Politics, the study explains:
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.
Altogether, McCain has still raised much more from the oil industry than Obama has. The presumptive Republican nominee has taken in a total of $1.3 million, while his opponent trails with approximately $394,000. And there are questions about some of the money McCain has gotten from people who work for other oil companies, like the surprisingly large amount donated by a low-level Hess employee and her husband.
Nonetheless, the McCain campaign has taken delighted notice of the study. On the official John McCain Report blog, Michael Goldfarb gloated, "Earlier this week Obama told an audience: 'make no mistake -- the oil companies have placed their bet on Senator McCain.' It looks like somebody made a mistake." (The link Goldfarb provided directs readers to the DNC's parody site.) Conveniently, however, Goldfarb left out the total amount that McCain has raised from oil industry employees, as well as any indication of how little Obama has received by comparison.
Shares