NY Times Caucus blog reported McCain's attack on Obama's "big oil contributions," but not that McCain received more

Summary: In reporting the McCain campaign's attack on Sen. Barack Obama for "the $400,000 from big oil contributors" he has received, The New York Times' The Caucus blog did not point out that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. John McCain has received approximately $1.3 million from the oil and gas industry, more than triple the amount Obama has received.

In an August 4 post in The New York Times The Caucus blog, staff writer Michael Falcone reported that Sen. Barack Obama "is going on the air with a new television ad that accuses Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, of being 'in the pocket' of the big oil companies: ' ... instead of taxing their windfall profits to help drivers, McCain wants to give them another 4 billion in tax breaks,' the ad says." The article goes on to quote McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds claiming, "Also not mentioned is the $400,000 from big oil contributors that Barack Obama has already pocketed in this election." But Falcone did not point out that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, while Obama received $394,465 from the oil & gas industry, McCain received more than triple that amount: approximately $1.3 million.

From the August 4 New York Times blog post:

Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, will be making a big push today for his proposal to wean America off its dependence on foreign oil with a speech in Lansing, Mich. to tout his New Energy for America Plan. According to the Obama campaign, the plan will "provide an immediate energy rebate to Americans struggling with high gas prices, create five million new green jobs, and eliminate our need for Middle Eastern oil in 10 years."

As Mr. Obama announces the plan, his campaign is going on the air with a new television ad that accuses Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, of being "in the pocket" of the big oil companies: "...instead of taxing their windfall profits to help drivers, McCain wants to give them another 4 billion in tax breaks," the ad says.

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, was quick to respond: "Barack Obama's latest negative attack ad shows his celebrity is matched only by his hypocrisy, after all it was Senator Obama, not John McCain, who voted for the Bush-Cheney energy bill that was a sweetheart deal for oil companies," Mr. Bounds said in a statement. "Also not mentioned is the $400,000 from big oil contributors that Barack Obama has already pocketed in this election."

—J.H.