Obama Camp Won't Pull Oil Ad That Clinton Calls Misleading

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Chicago Sun Times   |  Lynn Sweet   |   April 9, 2008 02:59 PM


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The Clinton campaign is complaining about an Obama ad where Obama touts that he does not take money from oil companies. But I talked to Obama top strategist David Axelrod a short time ago here and he said he has no plans to change it.

The ad has been criticized from factcheck.org as misleading because no federal candidate--for President, House or Senate can take money from corporations and corporate political action committees get their money mostly from employees.

Read the whole story here.

 
 

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I'm not seeing where any of the Hillary supporters here has offered any evidence that Obama has accepted oil industry money from either PACs or lobbyists in his run for the Presidency. Did I just miss it or something?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:35 PM on 04/10/2008

No, but the point is that his ad is leading people to believe he is not influenced by oil companies and his opponents are.

That is misleading because while no candidate can take money directly from corporations both he and Clinton get money from oil companies in some form. Hillary in the form of PACs (at a limit of $5K) and Obama in the form of oil companies pooling money to the tune of $150K (see article above). Which is worse to you?

(Individuals who donated and had to indicate that they workd for an oil company are not included in that $150K nor should they be. They are separate from the pooled money cited in this article)

Clinton can't take money either since no Pres Candidate can.

You decide.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:56 PM on 04/10/2008

no

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:42 PM on 04/10/2008

AGAIN Obama tries to slither around the truth.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:19 PM on 04/10/2008

I know you meant to say Hillary slithers

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:53 PM on 04/10/2008

No, sorry. I meant Obama. Just like I wrote. Sorry you're so blind.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:15 AM on 04/11/2008

Obama accepts lobbyist and sector donations just like everyone else. He's not any different except he has accepted more cash. Much like the Clinton "it all depends on what the meaning of is is" Obama is trying to make a false distinction by carefully using weasel wording to define his terms. From open secrets.org
Agribusiness Obama$540,456 McCain 531,841
Communications/Electronics Obama$7,138,283 McCain$1,713,390
Construction Obama$1,448,393 McCain$1,041,232
Defense Obama$195,132 McCain$227,274
Energy & Natural Resources Obama$862,030 McCain$807,852
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate Obama$15,268,502 McCain$8,555,655
Health Obama$3,986,561 McCain$1,384,210
Lawyers and LOBBYISTS Obama$13,805,333 McCain$4,201,665
Transportation Obama$468,120 McCain$711,563
Misc Business Obama$15,786,950 McCain$5,157,738
Labor Obama$62,167 McCain$2,800
Ideological/Single-Issue Obama$482,359 McCain$269,172
Other Obama$17,854,593 McCain$8,682,839

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:27 AM on 04/10/2008

You are obviously confusing employees of an industry with lobbyists. I work in engineering, and therefore I belong to the tramsportation industry. Any donations I make to presidential candidates would show up as a donation "from the transportation industry."

Also you have no links and no evidence to support any of your other claims. Obama has a legally binding ban on his website's donation page stipulating that if you are a federally registered lobbyist, you can't donate to his campaign. Ask your candidate Clinton to include such a ban on her website.

If you want a candidate who is going to fight against the special interests and you are at the same time supporting Clinton, then there is really nothing to say to you.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:54 AM on 04/10/2008

None of those links says anything about Obama's presidential campaign. He has not taken any lobbyist money in his campaign.

Again, tell your candidate Clinton to include a ban on federal lobbyist money on her
donations page as Obama has done. Go to her own website, hillaryclinton.com, and see for yourself.

Again you are avoiding the fundamental issue, which is that if you are against lobbyists, why are you supporting Clinton, who has said herself that lobbyists represent the American people?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:39 PM on 04/10/2008

All the numbers are from Obama's current presidential campaign. Numbers are directly from opensecrets.org where they say about these numbers "NOTE: All the numbers on this page are for the 2008 election cycle and based on Federal Election Commission data released electronically on Thursday, March 20, 2008."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:08 PM on 04/10/2008

Mark77

Your fundemental issue is flawed because according to factcheck.org , "No federal candidate--for President, House or Senate can take money from corporations." - that includes Clinton.

Regarding PACs--PACs get their money mostly from employees at a max of $5k--how much influence does that buy? No where near as much as the $50 - $100K that the oil company execs have raised for Obama.

Obama actually found a way for corporate execs to fundraise in excess of $5K. He thinks --forget the measly PACs which are limited to $5k--let's work outside the PACs and have influencial business execs round up the donors to get a higher donation amount.

Dugh! The turth is in the fine print people.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:30 PM on 04/10/2008

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/32/
Obama's, " anti-lobbyist policy includes one caveat and a few loopholes that weaken his claim to be funding his political campaign in a way that's truly different from his competitors.

He almost always qualifies his statement to note that he won't take money from federal lobbyists, a distinction that allows him to accept money from well-connected state lobbyists.

For example, South Florida lobbyist Russ Klenet and his wife will host a fundraising event in Broward County for Obama on August 25. Klenet represents state groups such as the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers, but also companies such as Match.com and Election Systems & Software.

And Obama still accepts tens of thousands of dollars from people who work for Washington firms that do substantial lobbying. Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is an Obama contributor who isn't a registered lobbyist, but works as a consultant for Alston & Bird, a lobbying firm in Washington.

The Center for Responsive Politics found that Obama accepted $55,019 from employees at lobbying firms, and much more from companies that are not classified as lobbying firms but have lobbying divisions.

So we give Obama's statement a Half-True on the Truth-O-Meter. While Obama can accurately say that he does not accept money from federally registered lobbyists, he still accepts thousands from people in the influence industry."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:31 AM on 04/10/2008

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/09/pacs_and_lobbyists_aided_obamas_rise/

A Globe review of campaign finance records shows he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator , a US senator, and a presidential aspirant.

Obama's eight years in Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of money he raised for his campaigns -- $296,000 of $461,000 -- came from PACs, corporate contributions according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and corporate interests, the records show.

Obama's US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. His $1.3 million from PACs represents 8 percent of what he has raised overall. Clinton's Senate committee, by comparison, has raised $3 million from PACs, 4 percent of her total amount raised, the group said.

In addition, Obama's own federal PAC, Hopefund, took in $115,000 from 56 PACs in the 2005-2006 election cycle out of $4.4 million the PAC raised, according to CQ MoneyLine, which collects Federal Election Commission data. Obama then used those PAC contributions -- including thousands from defense contractors, law firms, and the securities and insurance industries -- to build support for his presidential run by making donations to Democratic Party organizations and candidates around the country.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:25 AM on 04/10/2008

I read that article too. It's from the Boston Globe - last August.

You failed to relate how much money the Obama PRESIDENTIAL campaign collects from PAC's. The reason? The answer is - ZERO. He DOES NOT take contributions from PACs or FEDERALLY REGISTERED LOBBYISTS for his Presidential campaign committee.

You are mixing apples and oranges in your attempt to be misleading.

Recite for us the PAC money and LOBBIEST money HIllary Clinton has received for her Presidential campaign fund. You will find the exact opposite from Obama's record in their Presidential campaign accounts.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:55 AM on 04/10/2008

In summary, Obama's got the money and he is going to WIN.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:45 AM on 04/10/2008

NO, I am not confusing employees and an industry with lobbyists. First, Opensecrets.org lists Obama's lawyer and federally registered Lobbyist donations at $13,805,333 as reported to the FEC by the Obama campaign, not me. From factcheck.org "In addition, Obama accepts donations from the employees, families and others directly tied to lobbyists. We've noted before that Obama's policy of not taking money from lobbyists is a bit of hair-splitting. It's true that he doesn't accept contributions from individuals who are registered to lobby the federal government. But he does take money from their spouses and from other individuals at firms where lobbyists work. And some of his bigger fundraisers were registered lobbyists until they signed on with the Obama campaign."

Second, as Obama keeps parsing the words so do his supporters. It has been illegal for corporations to make political donations for over 30 years, no one accusing Obama of accepting illegal corporate money. Rather, Obama is receiving millions of dollars from the executives and managers of corporations, perfectly legal, that is how the corporate executives make sure they gain a seat at the Obama table.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:12 AM on 04/10/2008

That's completely false. Opensecrets does not have those numbers at all. Are you just making up numbers from thin air? You do know that people can actually GO to the opensecrets.org site themselves and look these things up. If you're so confident in your argument, can you please stop making up numbers, and just tell people to go to that website and compare the campaign contributions of Obama and Clinton for themselves? When people go to that website and compare, it would be clear who has a problem with lobbyist money and who doesn't.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:54 PM on 04/10/2008

Again, you are attempting to be misleading. Corporations collect monies from employees that go into their political action committees (PACs) which the corporations form. Corporations cannot contribute funds directly to candidates. PAC contributions from these corporations go to candidates in the name of the PAC. Individuals can write checks to whomever they want. The intent of a PAC is clear - to influence, in the name of the corporation. The intent of an individual contributing to a campaign can only be guessed at.

Hillary takes both PAC money AND money from federally registered lobbyists for her Presidential campaign fund. Obama does not.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:03 AM on 04/10/2008

Your incipient yapping will be drowned out by Obama's TV and Radio ads.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:48 AM on 04/10/2008

He is making her play defense. Also every ad that Hillary has to run against Obama in Penn, is an ad she cannot run in Indiana or North Carolina. It's about money and advertising now and Hillary is at a disadvantage. This is the POWER game, and Obama definitely has the advantage.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:06 AM on 04/10/2008

And I hear that Obama is going to forgo public financing should he squeak out the nom. Way to go Obama, can't win on experience OR judgment so just BUY the election. Yeah that's change alright. Who does he think he is fooling?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:07 AM on 04/10/2008

Yeah, right. Obama is "buying" the election, all right... only, it's with the people's money, contributed by millions of small donors. That's the very definition of public financing. You're just sore because Barack Obama is raising more money than Hillary and John McCain put together, and he's a better campaigner and money-manager than both of them put together, too.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:38 AM on 04/10/2008

He's built the organization that will be the model for future Presidential runs. There's no doubt that Obama is a better executive and manager than Clinton, just look at their campaigns.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:36 AM on 04/10/2008

No, he's an orator, great speaker and thinks he's the messiah. He doesn't have a clue or solution to any of our country's problems. He never even voted in the Senate. Didn't want to vote the wrong way. How could you say this man is a better executive and manager? He's just a better dog and pony show.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:48 PM on 04/10/2008


Yeah ... Change You Can Purchase.

I can't believe he has so many people hoodwinked into handing over their hard-earned cash.

But that's what happens in a cult.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:27 AM on 04/10/2008

We weren't hoodwinked. Millions of us gladly contributed to Obama's campaign because we know he's the superior candidate. He has rewarded our efforts by demonstrating that he's a vastly better campaigner and money-manager than John McCain (and Hillary, too, of course, but she's no longer a factor in the race).

By the way, don't worry... we won't try to convert you to our "cult." Obama supporters have been shown statistically to be better educated than Clinton and McCain supporters. It's fairly obvious that you don't fall into that category, so we'll just leave you to wallow in the mediocrity of your chosen candidate.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:55 AM on 04/10/2008

Susan1968, I am so glad that you learned a new word... Hoodwinked.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:55 AM on 04/10/2008

I knew his Chicago style politics would come into play.

"I'm a differnet kind of politian."

I wonder how many Obama supporters in states that have voted are having buyer's remorse.

Me? I can't stand the tone of his voice anymore and his habit of going "umm, ummm, ummm" when he's buying time to cook up the perfect VAGUE answer.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:50 AM on 04/10/2008

((( "I wonder how many Obama supporters in states that have voted are having buyer's remorse." )))

If I had to guess, I'd say "none."

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:57 AM on 04/10/2008

I guarantee that "buyers remorse" is running rampant among Hillary supporters all over the country. It's one thing after another with Senator Clinton.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:33 AM on 04/10/2008


He's running a misleading "dirty tricks" ad. Oldest dirty trick in the book -- playing voters for idiots with his lie.

That Obama - he'll do anything to win.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:45 AM on 04/10/2008

Dirty Tricks? Dirty tricks are Hillary's bag. Hillary is the queen of playing voters for idiots. Hillary's entire campaign after New Hampshire has been dirty, misleading, and dishonest. Others that are pulling away from her have noticed the decline in her campaign, why haven't you?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:52 AM on 04/10/2008

The ad will work for him, because it is too hard for Hillary to explain to the average person. When they hear numbers like 200,000 it is not material anymore compared to millions, billions and trillions. She's do better to let it go.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:47 PM on 04/09/2008

Misleading the ad may be but is Hillary more misleading? Read this article by Bill Clinton's former advisor and ask Hillary about misleading.
http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/2008/04/09/hill-lobbyists-more-the-merrier/#more-313

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:13 PM on 04/09/2008

NOw your using Dick Morris as some type of proof. Do you watch this nutcase on Fox News?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:33 PM on 04/09/2008

you can discredit Dick Morris all you want but how about you try to do independent research, you will come to a similar conclusion to what he wrote about in this article.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:40 PM on 04/09/2008


Dick Morris is like a stalker when he talks about the Clintons.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:46 AM on 04/10/2008

" Another Clinton fundraiser has a suspect past "

By Greg Gordon and Will Connors | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, April 3, 2008

HOUSTON " A Texas oilman who's accused of defrauding the Nigerian government by illegally pumping and exporting 10 million barrels of oil is a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

continues: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/32613.html

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:12 PM on 04/09/2008

Since most that donate work in some industry and the industry you work in has to be reported when you donate, the aggregrate impact of any one industry adds up. The r