Obama ad alleges McCain is in oil companies' 'pocket'

ByABC News
August 4, 2008, 11:53 PM

— -- Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign released a TV ad Monday that says Republican John McCain could end up in the "pocket of big oil" if he wins the White House. The McCain campaign responded that it's Obama who once supported a "sweetheart deal for oil companies." Parts of both sides' claims have run afoul of independent fact checkers.

The script

Narrator:"Every time you fill your tank, the oil companies fill their pockets. Now big oil's filling John McCain's campaign with $2 million in contributions. Because instead of taxing their windfall profits to help drivers, McCain wants to give them another $4 billion in tax breaks.

"After one president in the pocket of big oil, we can't afford another.

"Barack Obama: a windfall profits tax on big oil to give families a thousand dollar rebate. A president who'll stand up for you."

The images

The 30-second ad begins with scenes of gas pumps and clogged highways, mixed with images of McCain and President Bush. As the background music turns upbeat and Obama appears, the message shifts to focus on Obama's proposal to tax companies' profits from soaring oil prices and give rebates to families.

Reality check

The ad reinforces a message Obama has been pushing for months a McCain administration would be like Bush's. It aims to make voters think that could mean more bad news at gas pumps. The facts:

The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics says McCain's campaign has collected more than $2.4 million from the "energy/natural resources" sector of the economy. About $1.3 million has come from political action committees and individuals tied to the oil and gas industries. The ad does not point out that Obama has collected at least $1.3 million from the energy/natural resources sector. About $400,000 came from oil or gas company workers.

McCain's contributions are not from oil companies directly, something the ad does not make clear. Corporations are barred by law from making such contributions. The independent FactCheck.org has previously criticized the Obama campaign for implying that his rivals (during the battle for the Democratic nomination) took money from oil companies.