8-26-08 by dugan
ExxonMobil is spending plenty to get its message heard during the Democratic Convention, but not by spending on the convention itself. Exxon is buying a heap of time on CNN and CBS and probably other outlets, just as it did with NBC during the Olympics. Inside the hall, both Conoco Phillips and Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum (one of the world’s biggest drilling companies) are listed as convention sponsors.
T. Boone Pickens, the natural gas billionaire who sponsored the vicious 2004 "Swift Boat" ad campaign, is also making nice in Denver by working the media tent and buying meals for state delegations, on behalf of his national wind-and-natural gas plan. Of course, Pickens says he’s doing this out of the goodness of his heart, not because his natural gas investments would reap kajillions of dollars.
Democrats including Sen. Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have lately been signing on with the "drill now, dril everywhere" crowd. And Anadarko in particular stands to benefit from any new exploration and drilling in previously off-limits coastal and Arctic areas. The company also has a big presence in Colorado natural gas fields, where the company is trying to overturn new state environmental regulations.
The Denver convention sponsorships look mostly like a safety buy, as direct oil company political donations are going overwhelmingly, as usual, to GOP candidates.
As for the GOP convention, no major oil companies are listed so far as official sponsors. But expect plenty more of Exxon’s aimed-at-Congress ad campaign, and a presence in the "hospitality" end of the proceedings.