When gas prices soared under former President Bush, a former Texas oilman, bloggers and pundits suggested that he was in the pocket of his Big Oil donors. So as gas prices soar again to Bush-era levels, can the same be said of Democrat Barack Obama? [See a slide show of the 10 Cities With the Highest Gas Prices.]
The facts of the 2008 election show that he was the favorite of Exxon, Chevron, and BP. Exxon donated $117,946 to Obama and $73,326 to McCain. Chevron pumped $77,875 into Obama's warchest and $61,313 to McCain. BP gave $71,051 to Obama but just $36,649 to McCain.
Still in the donor wars, oil and energy interests donated more than twice as much to McCain as Obama, $2.4 million versus $902,000. [See a slide show of the 10 cities with the lowest gas prices.]
During the campaign, the danger of American dependence on foreign oil was a major plank in Obama's platform on the 2008 campaign trail. Yet PACs and employees of some of the largest oil and gas companies still gave significant support to Obama as a presidential candidate. Below are the largest oil and gas contributors during the 2008 election cycle to Obama.
| Organization | Contributions |
|---|---|
| Exxon Mobil | $117,946 |
| Chevron | 77,875 |
| BP | 71,051 |
| Shell | 64,661 |
| ConocoPhillips | 17,600 |
| Marathon Oil | 15,437 |
| Hess Corp. | 6,950 |
| Anadarko Petroleum | 5,800 |
| Valero Energy | 4,850 |
| Occidental Petroleum | 4,400 |
| Sunoco, Inc. | 4,209 |
| American Gas Association | 3,970 |
| Devon Energy | 1,700 |
| Chesapeake Energy | 1,200 |
| Williams Companies | 500 |
Source: Center for Responsive Politics
Totals include contributions from PACs, as well as individual contributions of $200 or greater.
- See who in Congress gets the most from the oil industry.
- See the 10 Best Cities to Find a Job.
- See photos of the Gulf oil spill disaster.
Reader Comments Read all comments (2)
margaret of ME 4:11PM January 22, 2013
Michael 5:12AM March 17, 2011