Oil Execs Gave McCain Huge Donations Right After Offshore Drilling Reversal

[Nomad Soul]

Now that's some fundraising for you. Try to beat this, Obama!


Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal
By Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld - August 4, 2008, 12:47PM

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.

The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling.

These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions:

J. Barclay Collins Hess Corp. Attorney $28,500 19-Jun
John B. Hess Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun
Susan K. Hess Homemaker Homemaker $28,500 24-Jun
Norma W. Hess Retired Retired $28,500 24-Jun
John J. O'Connor Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun
Lawrence Ornstein Hess Corp. Senior VP $28,500 24-Jun
John Reilly Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun
Alice Rocchio Hess Corp. Office Manager $28,500 24-Jun
John Scelfo Hess Corp. Senior VP of Finance $28,500 24-Jun
F. Borden Walker Hess Corp. Businessman $28,500 24-Jun


Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess.

Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit.

Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way.

Source: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/oil_company_executives.php

[Onomatopoeia]

Er... thats not exactly a good thing... it means that Mccain is getting donation from big oil companies which 90% of America hates. It paints him as one of those Pro-big business guys again everyone hates those sort of things. And it makes it look like that big business companies just need to pay him and he'll do their dirty work.

At the same time 280k might seem big to us but it's nothing when comparing Obama and Mccain fundraising. Obama in comparison made a record in fundrasing in February with 55 million dollars. Obama is still outfundrasing Mccain 5 to 1.

This is very bad for Mccain it's not enough to help him but more then enough to paint him as an elitist...

[miyi]

Er... thats not exactly a good thing... it means that Mccain is getting donation from big oil companies which 90% of America hates. It paints him as one of those Pro-big business guys again everyone hates those sort of things. And it makes it look like that big business companies just need to pay him and he'll do their dirty work.

At the same time 280k might seem big to us but it's nothing when comparing Obama and Mccain fundraising. Obama in comparison made a record in fundrasing in February with 55 million dollars. Obama is still outfundrasing Mccain 5 to 1.

This is very bad for Mccain it's not enough to help him but more then enough to paint him as an elitist...

The question here is, what motivated John McCain to reverse his position on offshore drilling?

Is it:

(a) according to recent polls, a majority of Americans support offshore drilling, in response to high prices of gas as being unbearable.

(b) because by doing so, McCain will receive large contributions from oil companies, such as Hess.



If you think it's (b), then you agree with the above article, and what it has tried to insinuate.

I happen to disagree, and think it's (a).

There's simply no evidence to support the claim that McCain was influenced by oil companies in his decision to reverse his position on offshore drilling.

Unless the above article can prove that, then this article really isn't any smoking gun.

Which is why the mainstream media didn't really pick up on this story, not that I recall......although Obama did release this attack ad:

click here (http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185304443/bctid1709838907)


which I think is quite clever, and effective.



And by the way, the above article is from Talking Points Memo, or TPM, a liberal blog, and probably not endorsing Senator McCain to begin with.

So I can understand where TPM is going with this.


And just another thing I forgot to mention....Obama did in fact receive $5,200 in campaign donations from Hess, although this is not much, compared to what McCain has gotten.

And Obama isn't exactly innocent either, when it comes to accepting donations from oil companies, See Here (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obamas_oil_spill.html).

[Onomatopoeia]

I'm not saying I believe in it but many Americans are easily susceptible to a few well made adds targeting donations from gas companies can change a fair amount of people's minds. In this election even 1 percent is more then enough to change the vote.

I also notice you attack my my point that is directed towards leaners out their. I know a few people who actually really hate Oil Companies. Besides my post was disagreeing with this donation being extremely useful to Mccain which it most defintely is not.

And please don't be bias when showing who has gotten donations from which Oil Company Obama is no saint but Mccains is worse see here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601891.html).

[Nomad Soul]

This is very bad for Mccain it's not enough to help him but more then enough to paint him as an elitist...

Wow, McCain is elitist? How did you figure that out? We're talking about a guy with a private jet (owned by his wife), five houses and $500 loafers. The typical American Joe!

[Onomatopoeia]

I should have said that it painted him even more elitist then he already is. Besides I wasn't sure whether you were being sarcastic or not. You could have been one of those Rabid Mccain fans I meet on forums from time to time.

[miyi]

I'm not saying I believe in it but many Americans are easily susceptible to a few well made adds targeting donations from gas companies can change a fair amount of people's minds. In this election even 1 percent is more then enough to change the vote.

I also notice you attack my my point that is directed towards leaners out their. I know a few people who actually really hate Oil Companies. Besides my post was disagreeing with this donation being extremely useful to Mccain which it most defintely is not.

And please don't be bias when showing who has gotten donations from which Oil Company Obama is no saint but Mccains is worse see here (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/26/AR2008072601891.html).

Both Obama and McCain accepted donations from oil companies. Therefore, neither candidate is qualified to make the claim that they don't, because it simply isn't true.

That is the point I was trying to make. You can disagree all you want.


And about Obama being a so-called "elitist"....that accusation came from Hillary Clinton, not McCain.

Clinton's strategy at the time was to seize on an opening (when Obama made that "bitter" and "clinging to religion" comment in Pennsylvania) by painting Obama as an "elitist" and "out-of-touch" with the American people.

By "elitist", Clinton was referring to Obama as being an ivy league, Harvard Law guy who presumably adopted a condescending view of "small town" Americans, which is why he made those demeaning comments.

Not that I agree with what Clinton was necessarily trying to say, and I disagree with Obama being labeled an "elitist", although there is an element of truth about the claim that Obama, sometimes can be condescending towards other people, particularly towards those who holds conservative beliefs.

He made a big mistake in trying to analyze why certain people are religious, pro-gun, and concluded that it must be because they are losing jobs and are "bitter" and so they resort to religion for hope.

That is such a condescending and stereotypical view of conservatives.

And If you think McCain is an elitist, judging him from his wealth alone does not take into account that he and his wife, Cindy, have done so much for charity work, particularly in Africa, where Cindy McCain founded the "American Voluntary Medical Team", which according to the Wallstreet Journal, "helps bring doctors to war-torn countries." (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121720134007588395.html?mod=todays_us_opinion)



So if by helping war-torn countries like Rwanda makes you an elitist, then I just don't buy that.

And I also don't buy that Obama is an "elitist", although he do have a tendency to act condescendingly, especially towards those who holds conservative views.

So if the Obama campaign would like to paint McCain as an "elitist" based on his taking contributions from oil companies, all McCain needs to do is to point out that Obama is guilty of this same crime, and the facts clearly show it.


[edit]

and Cindy McCain also recently did charity work in Vietnam (which she's been involved in since 2001) for "Operation Smile". (http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1816114,00.html)


Seriously, it's difficult to make the claim that the McCains are "elitists". Yes, they are wealthy, but at the same time, they've contributed so much for charity.

And McCain has served his country in Vietnam, and both of his sons have served (or are currently serving) in Iraq. McCain refuse to ever mention this for political gain, but it's true.

I think serving your country exceeds all kinds of possible contributions, so again, the label "elitist", will certainly not apply towards John McCain.

The Obama campaign can try, but I doubt many will buy it.