Washington, D.C. – Campaign Money Watch, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog, released the following statement today from its director, David Donnelly, regarding Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) selection of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) to be his vice presidential running mate:

“In choosing Governor Palin, Senator McCain is clearly trying to shore up his past maverick reformer image – an image that is now in tatters due to the type of campaign he’s run and the big money lobbyists he depends on every day of the week,” Donnelly said.

“This selection raises plenty of questions,” Donnelly continued. “She bills herself as a reformer, but has been silent on whether she supports public financing of elections in her own state. As governor of an oil-producing state, she’s been a friend to Big Oil. Given John McCain’s extensive fundraising from Big Oil, her selection raises concerns of whether the McCain-Palin ticket will promise the same access for oil companies and their lobbyists that we’ve seen for nearly eight years from the Bush-Cheney administration.”

Gov. Palin recently told a reporter, “When I look every day, the big oil company's building is right out there next to me, and it's quite a reminder that we should have mutually beneficial relationships with the oil industry.” For John McCain, that mutually beneficial relationship includes millions in campaign donations.

Campaign Money Watch is a project of the nonpartisan Public Campaign Action Fund. The organization works to hold politicians who are against comprehensive campaign finance reform accountable for where they get their political donations.

[To view the organization’s statement on Sen. Barack Obama’s selection of Sen. Joe Biden as the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, visit our website at http://www.campaignmoney.org/pressroom/2008/08/28/veep-nominee-biden.]