T. Boone Pickens gets face time with both prez candidates 1

T. Boone Pickens, the former Texas oilman who has turned his focus -- and substantial funding -- to renewable energy, breakfasted with both of the presidential candidates in past days. (But is he still a slim Pickens?) The billionaire met with John McCain on Friday; Pickens has said that he supports the Republican candidate, but disagrees with some of McCain's proposals for lowering gas prices. Pickens' Sunday meeting with Barack Obama raised some eyebrows, since Pickens heftily funded the swift-boating of John Kerry in 2004. But Obama brushed that off his shoulders, calling Pickens a "legendary entrepreneur" and adding, "I think we have to unify the country around ... an intelligent energy policy." For his part, Pickens said that he "assured Sen. Obama that [the Pickens Plan] is a nonpartisan campaign.'' In statements released after the klatches, Pickens said he told both candidates that "any credible domestic energy policy must reduce our dependence on foreign oil by at least 30 percent in the next 10 years."

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