Obama Meets With T. Boone Pickens, Avoids Swift Boat Question

RENO, Nev. — Democrat Barack Obama met Sunday with Texas oil baron and longtime conservative activist T. Boone Pickens to discuss strategies for developing alternative energy.

The presidential hopeful praised Pickens as a "legendary entrepreneur" and deflected a question about the billionaire's role in helping to fund a television ad campaign that undermined John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee.

"You know, he's got a longer track record than that," Obama told reporters when asked about Pickens' association with the ads by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. "One of the things I think we have to unify the country around is having an intelligent energy policy. ... That's what we're going to be talking about."

During the 2004 presidential campaign, Pickens spent $3 million to help bankroll the Swift Boat organization, a group tied to supporters of President Bush that ran television ads questioning Kerry's record as a swift boat commander during the Vietnam War. The ads were believed to have damaged Kerry in several battleground states, contributing to his narrow loss to Bush.

Today, Pickens is bankrolling a much different kind of campaign. A critic of U.S. dependence on oil and a champion of wind power and other alternative energy forms, he has vowed to spend $58 million to promote his "Pickens Plan," which calls for the U.S. to generate 22 percent of its electricity through wind and other sources.

The high cost of energy has emerged as a central campaign issue between Obama and his Republican rival John McCain. Pickens met with McCain in Colorado last week to discuss his plan and requested a similar meeting with Obama. The two men talked privately for about 45 minutes, campaign officials said Sunday.

Comments

[ada23]

go to the zaproot web page so you can see what is the real plan. He wants own water so he can sell it to all of us.

[littledogs1]

T boon pickens wants to put some more money in his pockets but I don't care, at least he has a plan, the more we use the sun and wind, the better off we will be. It is also a great way to create jobs. How come every time Obama comes up with a plan or idea to solve problems, Mcsame first picks on Obama's stand, and then claims the idea for himself? Because he has no good ideas of his own, he even thinks that 5 mill a year is the point someone becomes rich. So out of touch.

[cheshirecat831]

He is looking for government subsidies to increase his already tremendous wealth

[BaxterJ]

Pickens had some interesting things to say about both candidates on CNN today: http://www.entertonement.com/collections/2206/T-Boone-Pickens-Meets-With-Candidates

[lioness39]

I don't trust T. Boone Pickens as far as I can toss one of his oil rigs. I'm glad Obama met with him but I still think Boone is an insincere oil rich bonehead. Being part of the swift boat action against John Kerry was heinous as well - a tactic to keep his fellow oil cronies in the White House. And it worked to the detriment of the United States of America.

[Bocababs]

What "Class" Obama has not to bring up Swift Boating with one of its founders. This is the mark of a true leader, when you reach across to people like Pickens and hear what they have to say. Love it!!

[Organic-Guy]

T. Boone Pickens may get a little pay day from this venture but he won't live long enough to enjoy much of it and as he has stated on Larry King, he's had lots of pay days and another one isn't really his intent. He's at the end of his life and maybe wants to leave a legacy of good instead of being remembered as the guy who helped pound John Kerry into the ground. Our mortality and humanity maybe our strength in the end. I may be nieve but I suppose i still believe in redemption and second chances. Lets not turn down an offer of help at this critical time.
Remember the saying: Only Nixon can go to China.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Yes, you are naive, because amoral corrupt people who only care about their own interests, don't suddenly gain a conscience in 4 years.

[BCubedReg]

Sure, some people have an epiphany.. but not many. In any case his ideas are sound, even if his motives are suspect.

[kimkey]

I am not as sure as you are that Pickens is on a redemption mission. I have a strong feeling that his motives are still about money: who would own the windmills? who would build them? He has bought a lot of land, but how much more land will have to be taken in the name of emminent domain from families? My father lost land in California to a utility company in the name of emminent domain. The uitlity company is not owned by the government and should not have been able to use emminent domain to claim private lands. But, precedent has now been set that land can be taken using emminent domain as long as it is for the benefit of the public. People will not get market value for their land, and then will have to turn around and pay taxes on the money they received--a further loss to their families net worth, while Pickens would add to his own net worth. I think it was a stroke of genius to make his effort seem like a grass roots campaign of the people-now his motives become blurred as he seems to be on the side of people he has never been concerned with before: environmentalists, the financially struggling middle class, and those disenfranchised with big business and the government.

[CeciliaBertrand]

The door was open to Nixon because of a ping pong tournament and a young flamboyant player named Glenn Cowan. Check out Wikipedia - ping pong around1971 - great reality and a great story - none of it had to do with Nixon. Nixon got a free ride on Maos generous change of heart as a result of Glenns visit and friendship with one of their ping pong champions.

[Organic-Guy]

A friend of mine is being put into the ground today. We had some political differences and he was a in some ways a victim of the the Republican propaganda machine and had all the phrases and dogma memorized pretty well but underneath it all I could tell their was a real good person. Our last conversation was an interesting one. Sort of like an apology without apologizing. Lots of subleties and kindness not always present in his day to day demeanor.
T. Boone Pickens is old and he knows it. There's nothing like one's own mortality to focus the mind on what's really important. All the bluster and arrogance fade and we're left with ourselves, facing an uncertain future, seemingly alone. Perhaps this is T. Boone's moment of truth. He mentions it from time to time. Sure there will be some sunsidy required to get wind power fully integrated in to our power mix but is won't even compare to the billions we've wasted on nuclear power and subsidies to the oil companies, logging companies and the like.
The Republicans have created a huge welfare state of their own and no one's been talking about it until now and that's why the republicans are fighting so dirty and investing so much in this piss poor candidate they have put up for president. They don't want the spigot to be turned off to their corporate welfare grants they've been receiving for the last fifty years.

[blueskybigstar]

58 million seems like a pittance from someone so rich as T. Boone Pickens. He wants the government to spend 15 billion to engage wind energy from the property he bought up and reap all the financial rewards? I know wind energy is relatively clean, but the way that T. Boone Pickens wants to do it is cheap on his part and dirty. I find it ironic that conservative T. Boone wants socialized business. Put out more money T. Boone, if you want to reap such rewards.

[wdw101]

why if the liberals want wind there it is.........he has no reason to invest more

[alieninvader]

What? We should just hold out our hands? Or maybe jars, but that might take some investment.

[HallStyle]

This is very smart on Obamas part. If he is seen with T Boone this just gives a little more credibility to his own plan. And makes McCain seem out of touch and WRONG!

[gifu]

Thanks a lot for helping make Bushes second term become a reality, Mr. Pickens. You truly suck. You owe 50% of this country a reason why we should not walk YOU off a plank like Bush has our economy and future, for your support of the Swiftboat Gestapos. Another big-money Texas termite just waiting to eat us from the inside out, to be sure.

[melonman]

gifu, don't blame it all on Texas. It takes a country to screw up this bad.

[blueskybigstar]

No, it takes a cabal of the rich, who have taken over the media, to lead people like sheep. The atrocities that happened in Yugoslavia and Rwanda were completely caused by people taking over their media, more specifically the radio and lying about things that were not happened, exactly what the Bush administration and corporate America have perpetrated on the American people which has led to the million people who have died in Iraq since we got there. War crimes is the consequence.

[wdw101]

no really, tell us how you feel

[EuroPreacher]

O*b*a*m*a* has been proved right on Pakistan: Musharraf has resigned.McW*r banked on the wrong guy! It's nice to be vendicated!

[meanguy]

the headline is wrong...he didn't 'avoid' the question, he 'evaded' it...of course, to the cult, that's as good as actually answering it

[EuroPreacher]

Leadership is not about conflict resolution only but avoidance of conflicts in the first place. The man is not unnecessary (Stupidily) confrontational!

[ylpatriot]

Is this why Obama loves the "Present Vote" ? Voting that way over !30 times... i think he avoids the hot spots ...hmmmmmm dont vote for this man ... clearly we have not much of a choice but whew this guy is NOT good for this country !!!!

[capybara1950]

I'm waiting to hear the real story (details) to the natural gas portion of Picken's plan. I'm thinking that's the Coup d'Etat of the whole thing and where we need to be focusing our attentions. The wind portion sounds good, but is it a bit of a distraction keeping us from looking deeper?

[bluesman49]

The problem with wind is the cost per kilowatt. The wind is free but the apparatus is expensive and as a business proposition is difficult to justify, unless 1) oil becomes even more expensive ($200/brl is a real possibility) and 2) the windmills are manufactured in great numbers to reduce fixed costs (which is why Pickens wants to go big with it). The bottom line is that everyone needs to get adjusted to much higher energy costs going forward no matter how it's generated.

[procrustes]

Fascinating logic. Let's see here: if I keep taking the same pill at fitty-cents a pop, I'll put off death for five more years. On the other hand, if I change to the fitty-fiv cent a pop pill, I'll for-sure live the next five years plus I just might be cured. Hmmmm, what to do? What ever to do?

[bluesman49]

let me rephrase this - wind is great, but it's expensive because the wind generators cost more money than the energy they save over the life of their service, IF you apply a cost of oil at say a 2007 level. As the cost of oil increases wind becomes more attractive because they save a greater dollar amount since oil is more expensive. Also if you make more wind machines you can save on costs (economy of scale). However, energy will cost each of more, but we won't be sending the money in the middle east, which is a great incentive.

[alieninvader]

Isn't the apparatus pretty much a one time investment? Of course there will be maintenance costs, but by far the greatest investment will be in the beginning. Am I wrong?