« Previous | Main | Next »

Obama Has Lobbyist Advising on Gay Issues

Share

August 09, 2007 2:40 PM

ABC News' Tahman Bradley Reports: Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has been quite outspoken about the influence of lobbyists in government, but the Illinois senator himself has a registered Illinois lobbyist advising on gay issues. 

Michael Bauer, part of Obama's National LGBT Leadership Council, is registered as a lobbyist with ResPubica Group, a Chicago based firm that serves corporate and noncorporate clients. The Obama campaign lists Bauer as a community activist.  Bauer is only registered on the state level, he is not a federal lobbyist. 

Obama, who does not accept campaign contributions from federal lobbyists or political action committees, has sharply criticized his leading rival for the '08 Democratic presidential nomination Sen. Hillary Clinton D-N.Y., for her ties to Washington lobbyists and Wall Street. 

"You've got to have a president in the White House who is not simply subject to the whims of corporate lobbyists," Obama said during Tuesday night's AFL-CIO debate in Chicago.   

Obama spokesman Bill Burton told ABC News he thinks Obama has done more to curb the influence of special interests than any other candidate in the race.  "(Obama) fought for reform in Springfield, he fought for reform in Washington, and as president he has a plan that will be the most aggressive and sweeping in ethics and lobbying reform in the history of the executive branch," said Burton.  "That's why he has this ban on taking money from federal lobbyists and PACs.  It's not a perfect ban, but it's a symbol of the kind of Administration he's going to have and his efforts to curb the influence of lobbyists and special interests." 

This isn't the first instance in which Obama's tough on lobbyists rhetoric may appear to be out of step with his own ties to interest groups.  On July 16 the ABC News Blotter reported Obama introduced nine separate bills exempting an Australian-owned chemical corporation from import fees at the request of a representative of the corporation.

August 9, 2007 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (25)

User Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Yawn.

Boy, you guys are really reaching for anti-Barack stories. I guess that's they are starting to call ABC the Hillary Broadcast Company.

Posted by: BSmith | Aug 9, 2007 3:23:07 PM

I wonder what it is about the word FEDERAL you don't understand. I am sure you will keep looking for a Federal Lobbyist. Call me when you find it ...till then. Non story

Posted by: Lyn | Aug 9, 2007 3:32:37 PM

Yeah, I think every time I hear Obama speak about not taking money from lobbyists, he specifically says FEDERAL or DC lobbyist. This is not hypocritical at all, he only points out that he has made historic strides in ethics of his campaign. Not taking money from fed lobbyists is much, much farther toward ethics than any other politician has ever come. All the "dirt" that people come up with on Obama is not even dirt. ESPECIALLY compared to any other elected official. Obama may just have to do something bad in order to keep his campaign interesting and keep the people watching ;) BSmith is right, "Yawn."

Posted by: Cat | Aug 9, 2007 3:41:35 PM

Is this lobbyist lining Obama's pockets or does he give advice on the Gay Community in Chicago and their needs, from your article I don't see that it's a federal organization.
Since he isn't out to recruit him I am wondering what the problem is?? It isn't like this is a Big Pharma Co, Big Energy or even Insurance -- those are the lobbyists we should be very wary of.
Look at all the wives that work for Pharma Lobbyists including Joe Lieberman's own wife ----

Posted by: Paulet | Aug 9, 2007 3:41:47 PM

FEDERAL lobbyists---FEDERAL, FEDERAL, FEDERAL--people that have influence in Washington. What part of that don't you understand?

Non-story. YAWN.

Posted by: Nathan | Aug 9, 2007 5:39:21 PM

Insanity has become ABC news. How can you justify a headline as inflammatory and misleading as this and still consider yourselves to be a serious news organization. Keep it up, and the mainstream of America will see through your propaganda and shove you downstream!

Why not just say?

1. Obama hates lobbyists unless they are for the gay agenda!
2. Obama is a hyprocrite and does it more than once (just look at this last article that is as flimsy as this one!).
3. Obama lies on his website. He's a lobbyist not a community activist!

Instead of reporting the facts:

1. This guy is NOT a federal lobbyist which is the only item Obama has been attacking. The headline fails to point that out.

2. This guy is listed as a community activist because that is his work that is relevant for work being done on this committee/team.

3. "This is not the first time that.." Your story referenced doesn't state how controversial your assertions were!

I'm an undecided voter, but i haven't a clue how i'm suppose to trust anyone at this point. I only will listen to the candidates themselves!

Posted by: tjw | Aug 9, 2007 5:42:32 PM

And here's another strike against Hillary's attack on Obama about nukes:

NEW YORK -- Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who chastised rival Barack Obama for ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in the war on terror, did just that when asked about Iran a year ago.

"I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table," she said in April 2006.

Her views expressed while she was gearing up for a presidential run stand in conflict with her comments this month regarding Obama, who faced heavy criticism from leaders of both parties, including Clinton, after saying it would be "a profound mistake" to deploy nuclear weapons in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"There's been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That's not on the table," he said.

Clinton, who has tried to cast her rival as too inexperienced for the job of commander in chief, said of Obama's stance on Pakistan: "I don't believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons."

But that's exactly what she did in an interview with Bloomberg Television in April 2006. The New York senator, a member of the Armed Services committee, was asked about reports that the Bush administration was considering military intervention _ possibly even a nuclear strike _ to prevent Iran from escalating its nuclear program.

"I have said publicly no option should be off the table, but I would certainly take nuclear weapons off the table," Clinton said. "This administration has been very willing to talk about using nuclear weapons in a way we haven't seen since the dawn of a nuclear age. I think that's a terrible mistake."

Posted by: Retired_subsailor | Aug 9, 2007 5:51:45 PM

Seriously, can ABC not comprehend English or even simple concepts? State lobbyists don't lobby the federal government, they don't lobby senators or the white house! Seriously, how pathological is your anti-Obama binge? Look at how the lead is buried saying "he is not a federal lobbyist," which completely undermines your inflammatory headline. I suppose asking for any kind of correction or admission of error is moot, as Drudge-style journalism continues to "rule your world." Simply ridiculous.

Posted by: JC | Aug 9, 2007 6:14:12 PM

Who's minding the store at ABC News? This is a rank example of journalistic imcompetence. Plus, it has all the marks of a Clinton PR Flack.

Look, Obama DOES NOT TAKE MONEY FROM LOBBYING ORGANIZATIONS. Stop trying to fool the American public.

Posted by: Zennie | Aug 9, 2007 6:27:32 PM

Hillary is not saying anything just critizise people. What she is saying ? What she is bringing new here ?????????????

Posted by: Alain | Aug 9, 2007 7:07:47 PM

why is it that the press insists on reporting things before they have the real facts. Like looking up the word Federal.
I suggest that instead of spending your time trying to find ways to trash Obama you should do your job and stop being Hillary's poodle by actually asking why she doesn't have any policy, why she has a union buster for an advisor and her love of outsourcing.

Posted by: vwcat | Aug 9, 2007 7:38:16 PM

I am a registered Democrat but I will never, ever vote for Hillary. She exemplifies the things I hate most about politics. I will vote third party or not vote at all if she is the Democrat nominee. It is pathetic sickening shame.

Posted by: Bob | Aug 9, 2007 8:12:58 PM

He DOES accept money from PACS, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. His U.S. Senate campaign committee so far has raised $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs. ABC chose not to report this, while another national news outlet did.

Posted by: ron | Aug 9, 2007 9:51:36 PM

So what if he has a Lobbyist advising him? He's still not accepting donations from any lobbyists.

He used to. He said that after he was in the senate for a bit, and saw how much power the lobbyists have, he stopped accepting their money. So now he doesn't.
Good. But i Don't see what the point of this article is....Obama isn't allowed to talk with people who have had lobbying jobs?

That's just dumb.

Posted by: undecided | Aug 9, 2007 11:22:30 PM

Maybe hes confused about what a lobbyist is or does. Since hes been elected to the senate, hes been out campaigning for president. He hasn't set foot in the capitol long enough to see a lobbyist.

Posted by: cliff jones | Aug 9, 2007 11:26:59 PM

BTW, i am still undecided, but the more i check the facts, and the more i see campaigns twisting the truth, the less i like Hillary, and the MORE i like Obama, Biden, and Edwards.

Posted by: undecided | Aug 9, 2007 11:28:19 PM

Why doesn't ABC rename itself the Bilary channel? Your headline is very misleading about Senator Obama's relationship with the lobbyist. The lobbyist is an advisor to him with very specific skills. The Senator is not receiving money from him.

You did good work in identifying the specific work that Mr. Michael Bauer does. I await the same depth and breadth of investigation for all of the candidates involvement with federal lobbyists and PACS. I am especially interested in the earmarks of Senator Clinton. CNN had requested them from all the candidates and Senator Obama submitted his, but the junior NY Senator has not.

These are two legitimate stories which you could report without adding twists and innuendoes to attract the reader. You would be providing an h-o-n-e-s-t
article and give the American voter accurate information as we decide who is best prepared to become president.

Posted by: Imani De la Perez | Aug 10, 2007 1:04:32 AM

ABC is demonstrating why it's so important that we have lobbyist reform... Now they're controlling the media spin. This is scary!!!
I'm afraid I'll go to sleep and wake up with "Big Brother" and a "Stamp" on my forehead.

After we take the White House back for the people, let's work on our media outlets, otherwise all we'll have is the Internet.

Posted by: Undecided but leaning to Obama | Aug 10, 2007 5:24:38 AM

Fact: The Center for Responsive Politics (google it) found that Obama so far has raised $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs.

Fact: ABC reports that Obama does not accept money from federal lobbyists or PACS. (HOW MUCH MORE PRO-OBAMA CAN YOU GET?)

Fact: Whether a lobbyist is "federal" or not makes no difference because THE MONEY STILL GOES TO THE CAMPAIGN.

Posted by: ron | Aug 10, 2007 10:26:00 AM

Obama is trying to picture himself to be clean when facts suggest otherwise. Are these pro-Obama supporters really so dumb and gullible to believe him that he hasn't accepted any money from lobbyists? What about the Rezco land deal? The unpaid parking tickets? It would be a shame to have him as President. No way Jose !

Posted by: Gina, Chicago IL | Aug 11, 2007 1:53:36 AM

Post a comment