#BP back from political exile, giving big in 2012 - Dave Levinthal - POLITICO.com
►http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64093.html
BP has clawed its way back from political purgatory, finding itself right where it was before the Deepwater Horizon disaster: contributing significant cash to candidates happy to take it.
The embattled company’s political action committee (PAC) is almost on pace to match what it donated at the federal level during the 2008 presidential election cycle, federal records show. Between March and August, BP’s PAC made more than $50,000 in federal-level campaign contributions, ranking it among the cycle’s more generous donors.
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“BP’s ability to shed its pariah status has played out very quickly,” said Rick Hasen, a University of California-Irvine law professor who edits Election Law Blog. “They’re reaching the point where politicians can accept their money without fear of being branded as in the pocket of a corrupt corporation.”
