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Obama Hits McCain on Campaign's Lobbyist Ties
May 18, 2008 9:26 PM
ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama criticized Sen. John McCain for his campaign's ties to lobbyists, spurred from the recent resignation of five campaign staffers.
Today McCain's national finance co-chair, Tom Loeffler, resigned because of his lobbyist ties -- following four others on the campaign. The purging came after McCain campaign manager Rick Davis resolved last week to remove all registered lobbyists from the campaign.
At a press availability in Milwaukie, Ore., Obama responded to questions about what the rash of recent resignations shows about McCain, "It appears that John McCain is very much a creature of Washington."
The Illinois senator said by comparison that his campaign doesn't take PAC money or money from federal lobbyists.
At a rally later in the day in Portland, Obama's new criticism of McCain found a place in his stump speech.
"John McCain now has had to get rid of five of his top advisors because it turns out they're all lobbying, many of them for foreign governments. That's because he practices the same kind of politics that we've grown accustomed to in Washington," he said. "When I decided to run this campaign the first thing we said was we're not gonna to take money from PACs, we're not gonna to take money from federally registered lobbyists, because we want to be accountable to the American people."
The McCain campaign was quick to respond, calling Obama's comment a character assasination on the resigned staffers.
"Many fine people may have a conflict that is not reconcilable. Barack Obama's dragging the names of good people through the mud publicly is the worst type of character assassination," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement.
The McCain campaign turned the tables, saying that Obama himself has not released the names of his advisors.
Bounds also brought up Obama's relationship with Willam Ayers, a member of the terrorist organization, the Weather Underground.
"Just a few years ago when Barack Obama was beginning his career in politics he was launching it at the home of William Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist who his chief strategist said Senator Obama was certainly friendly with. If Barack Obama is going to make associations the issue, we look forward to the debate about Senator Obama's associations and what they say about his judgment and readiness to be commander in chief," Bounds wrote.
The criticism of McCain on lobbying follows a weekend chock full of instances of Obama highlighting his differences with McCain -- over national security, health care and social security.
ABC's Bret Hovell contributed to this report.
May 18, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (35)
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mccain supporters..i hope your all able to be drafted..this guy will bomb bomb bomb iran..within his first year..if you think oil is high now wait till then..127 a barrel will look good..and we have 100,000 troops in the green zone so iran will not have far to bomb..and russia and china are allies of iran..who in the last 3 years have been spending billions to build up their military..guess what for.
Posted by: tom | May 18, 2008 11:20:04 PM
Ayers has NEVER been on the payroll of Obama's candidacy for president but McCain's lobbyists have and these lobbyists were for terrorist organizations.
McCain's lobbyists are far WORSE than Obama's relationship with Ayers (since there is NO relationship).
Posted by: maritza | May 18, 2008 11:41:26 PM
Hey David and Jerry: you want the media to report what you want and not what the reality is
You do not know what the difference between liberals and pse-conservative is. You just lost your head if you do not like free speech and democracy.
Posted by: Rachhpal S Kukreja | May 18, 2008 11:51:33 PM
How about Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, McCain's financial adviser. He has made big money from lobbyists, including Enron.
Our Confusing Economy, Explained (audio)
Michael Greenberger is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and the director of the University's Center for Health and Homeland Security.
"Gramm was the biggest of the big guns behind the 1999 repeal of the banking regulations — the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act — which was officially called The Financial Services Modernization Act."
In this highly educational interview, Mr. Greenberger discusses how Phil Gramm led repeal of Depression-era banking regulations:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89338743
Posted by: Jim | May 19, 2008 12:03:34 AM
David or anybody else,
What is wrong with this statement about McCain?
In a 2006 Senate report concerning Jack Abramoff's activities, which McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican left out information detailing how Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's influence peddling scheme.
Posted by: Mr. Coffee | May 19, 2008 12:19:20 AM
Whoa there! Here is the pot calling the polished kettle black (no racial meaning here)! Obama in too many lobbyists back pocket to list (just Google his lobbyist ties)! He is close friends with Weather Underground members who are proud that they bombed the Pentagon and will not disavow their past, his pastor Rev. Wright, a close confidant for more than 20 years propped up Obamas anti-white views and Obama still lives in some delusion that his father (a bigamist drunk who abandoned several wives and their children including BHO) was some kind of hero! If you support him maybe you should read his autobiography "Dreams From My Father" and just use the Internet to investigate just a little about him. You will be appalled at how naive your support of him has been!
Posted by: orgoneozone | May 19, 2008 12:25:07 AM
Di.
You're correct.Hillary won all the big
states[blue-red-and toss-up]with the majority of the electoral votes.She has
better change to win in november.No question about that.
The problem with the democrats is the leadership.
The democratic leaders so call
superdelegates play the wrong game.
They support an un-electable candidate
Obama.
I'm not going to play the superdelegates game.I'm leaving the
party for good.I will vote for McCain
if Obama gets the nomination.
Posted by: Nicholas | May 19, 2008 1:17:30 AM
The Republicans problem is that the American people have figured out that their tactics of "divide and conquer"...of sowing dissension and fear...are all meant to distract America so that America's middle class and poor don't notice as the Republicans - and their puppetmasters - steal from their pocketbooks, plunder the nation's treasury, and destroy the future of their children.
Pretty simple, the republicans do not wish to lead America - they wish to prey upon it.
Posted by: LG | May 19, 2008 2:32:38 AM
McSame's chief adviser is a lobbyist, Charlie Black. And worse he was a lobbyists for some of the WORST regimes in the world.
Shame on you McCain. You should FIRE Charlie Black.
Posted by: maritza | May 19, 2008 3:26:09 AM
The Illinois senator said by comparison that his campaign doesn't take PAC money or money from federal lobbyists.
THATS A LIE. Obama has lobbyists that work on his campaign . Center of responsive politics.
Posted by: really | May 19, 2008 7:48:51 AM
Wow - what a load of hysterical garbage. I think Obama's got this election sewn up - the other side's full of crazies.
Posted by: Mark O | May 19, 2008 7:50:58 AM
Obama can't win the Presidency.
Posted by: David | May 19, 2008 2:18:39 PM
Obama whips into McCain for a relationship with a lobbyist yet he is the dear friend of Ayers and Dohr two US terrorists, free only because of folloishness by the FBI. The there is the strong friendship with Rezko of Chicago.
Okay I understand why it doe not matter, the media is in Obama's pocket. They are his PR machine.
Posted by: mike | May 19, 2008 4:31:34 PM
Obama has dozens of lobbyists at his headquaters. He just calls them consultants.
Tom Daschle a key part of Obama's campaign is a lobbyist.
Obama in his career is known for advancing the work of lobbyists.
While McCain showed great courage is nailing Jack Abramoff.
McCain goes after drug companies and tabacco companies.
McCain is despised by big business.
But lies work in this campaign and the media is 85 percent democrat so we will have a one party system with no republicans in the house senate or white house ever again.
The one sided media is bad for democracy.
Posted by: david | May 19, 2008 10:15:16 PM
in my opinion the press have been too soft on John McCain... Fox News is so Republican it's pathetic.. Look, I know the guy is a war hero, but that doesn't mean he is the guy to run our country.
Why in the heck does this ol guy who has everything need to be president.. oh yeah, I forget, when you have everything there is only one thing left... power.
I for one am tired of having a bumbling president who is proud of not being a long term thinker and who seems to lack the ability of self reflection.... 8 years is long enough.
And its pathetic that these richy rich guys, who come from families of such wealth and power (George Bush, John McCain) - are the ones that we put up to represent us??
this is not a dynasty folks.
Time to vote different.
Posted by: susa | Jun 8, 2008 4:32:27 PM
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