Talk Union County Blog

…and slips and slides.

Factcheck.org is taking the Illinois Senator to task for his new ad in PA that claims he doesn’t take money from oil companies. Like many of his claims regarding special interests, his statements are deceptive er creative.

In a new ad, Obama says, “I don’t take money from oil companies.”

Technically, that’s true, since a law that has been on the books for more than a century prohibits corporations from giving money directly to any federal candidate. But that doesn’t distinguish Obama from his rivals in the race.

We find the statement misleading:

* Obama has accepted more than $213,000 from individuals who work for companies in the oil and gas industry and their spouses.

* Two of Obama’s bundlers are top executives at oil companies and are listed on his Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the presidential hopeful.

I have to agree with factcheck.org — it’s slick. Deny that you don’t take money from oil companies while implying to the viewer that both democrats (Clinton) and republicans (McCain) do. Here’s an excerpt from the ad:

Since the gas lines of the ’70s, Democrats and Republicans have talked about energy independence, but nothing’s changed — except now Exxon’s making $40 billion a year, and we’re paying $3.50 for gas.
I’m Barack Obama. I don’t take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change anymore.

Read: Not only are my opponents taking money but they’re at fault for the high price of gas!

Really Senator Obama? You don’t money from lobbyists? What about those lobbyists on your payroll or your k-street connections? More directly, what about those oil buddies of yours? You know, the ones you target in your ad? Here let me help – these guys:

In addition, two oil industry executives are bundling money for Obama – drumming up contributions from individuals and turning them over to the campaign. George Kaiser, the chairman of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., ranks 68th on the Forbes list of world billionaires. He’s listed on Obama’s Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the candidate. Robert Cavnar is president and CEO of Milagro Exploration LLC, an oil exploration and production company. He’s named as a bundler in the same category as Kaiser.

We’re not making any judgments about whether Obama is influenced by campaign contributions. In fact, we’d note that he singles out ExxonMobil in this ad, even though he’s received more than $30,850 from individuals who work for the company.

Well at least he’s not afraid to criticize some of his friends.