Obama's Overstatement

Summary
Obama released a TV spot saying McCain's campaign got $2 million from "Big Oil" while McCain proposed "another $4 billion in tax breaks" for the industry.

The truth is that McCain's campaign has received $1.33 million from individuals employed in the oil and gas industry, not $2 million. Obama himself has received nearly $400,000, according to the most authoritative figures available. We find the $2 million figure is based on a mistaken calculation.

Furthermore, McCain is not proposing new tax breaks specifically targeted to the oil industry. He's proposing a general reduction in the corporate income tax rate, which Democrats figure would benefit the five largest oil and gas companies by $3.8 billion.

Analysis
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign released the ad Aug. 4. Its core claim is that McCain accepted $2 million in campaign contributions from "Big Oil" and is "in the pocket" of the industry. The Obama campaign even named the ad "Pocket."

Obama'08 Ad
"Pocket"
Announcer: Every time you fill your tank, the oil companies fill their pockets. Now Big Oil's filling John McCain's campaign with 2 million dollars 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.
 
Obama:I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.

An Inflated Figure
It's certainly true that McCain gets far more money from donors in the oil and gas industry than Obama does. And there's no question that McCain's recent support for expanding offshore drilling is a position that the industry favors. But the $2 million figure is inflated.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics--which both campaigns cite as authoritative from time to time--McCain had received $1,332,033 from persons in the oil and gas industry (both directly and through company-sponsored political action committees), not $2.1 million as the Obama campaign claims. Those are the most recent and authoritative figures available and are based on reports on file at the Federal Election Commission as of July 28.

The Obama campaign said it cobbled together its $2.1 million figure by adding one total from a report in the Washington Post, which said oil and gas donors gave $1.1 million to McCain in June, and an older total from CRP, which put the McCain campaign's total at just over $1 million through May 30. But that turns out to be adding apples to oranges, and it does not give an accurate figure for money that went directly to "John McCain's campaign," as the ad puts it. Much of the money given in June went to a joint  fundraising venture of the McCain campaign, the Republican National Committee and several state GOP committees, an unknown portion of which was passed through to the McCain campaign itself.