Standing before a room of oil company executives in June, John McCain flip-flopped and declared support for coastal oil drilling. Now the Washington Post is reporting that, within days, oil and gas execs ponied up nearly $1 million to elect McCain.1 It’s another piece of evidence that in a McCain White House, oil companies will call the shots—just as they have with President Bush.
Yesterday, MoveOn members jumped into action in response to the Post story, placing “For Sale” signs on McCain headquarters in 10 battleground states to call public attention to it.2 At the same time, McCain made our point for us, holding a photo-op yesterday in front of a California oil well and renewing his push for offshore drilling.3
McCain’s hoping to use gas prices as a wedge issue to win the election. That’s why it’s so critical that we keep spreading the message that McCain’s been heavily influenced by the oil companies—and so we can’t count on him to solve the energy crisis. When people think of Bush, they think “oil,” but that’s not true of McCain yet—even though his energy policy is almost identical to Bush’s and his campaign is literally run by oil lobbyists!4
Sources:
1. “Industry Gushed Money After Reversal on Drilling,” Washington Post, July 27, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3985&id=13351-8413955-tHvPsmx&t=3
2. “Activist group protests at McCain headquarters,” WHP CBS 21 Harrisburg, July 28, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3986&id=13351-8413955-tHvPsmx&t=4
3. “Offshore Drilling is Something We Have to Do,” Time Magazine, July 28, 2008
http://thepage.time.com/2008/07/28/oil/
4. “Oil Money: John McCain’s Close Ties to the Petroleum Industry,” Campaign Money Watch, July 11, 2008
http://www.campaignmoney.org/mccainoil
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