OIL Ties Fact- 40 percent Democrat/60 percent Republican

It has gone from 30 percent Democrat and 70 percent Republican

www.google.com...

WASHINGTON — With millions of dollars invested in campaign donations and an all-star lobbying team, BP executives could give an advanced class in how to build influence in Washington. But with millions of gallons of leaking oil bearing down on Gulf Coast beaches and bayous, they could also teach how to lose it.

Even pro-oil Republicans — whose 2008 vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, made "Drill, Baby Drill!" a party rallying cry — are demanding answers. At least for the moment, it appears that whatever clout BP has accrued, the oil company is unlikely to get delicate handling from lawmakers investigating the oil rig disaster when oversight hearings begin this week on Capitol Hill.

The percentage of BP employee-giving that goes to Democrats has inched up since they took control of Congress and the White House. It has gone from 30 percent Democrat and 70 percent Republican a decade ago to a split of about 40 percent Democrat/60 percent Republican in the last election and so far this election cycle.