Obama’s Own Lobbyist Problem – Update: Newsweek Buries Their Own Story

Obama said earlier in the week that McCain is basically a hypocrite for saying he is a reformer but hired lobbyists:

“John McCain then would be pretty disappointed with John McCain now,” Obama declared at a rally in Tampa, Fla., that drew 15,000 people to a local sports arena.

Obama noted that his rival had introduced legislation in 1996 to prohibit presidential campaigns from using funds to pay staff that were registered federal lobbyists and that McCain argued at the time that lobbyists presented a “conflict of interest” for presidential campaigns.

Obama charged McCain has “hired some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington to run his campaign.”

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McCain campaign manager Rick Davis was a lobbyist but took a leave from his firm two years ago. Senior adviser Charlie Black has been a prominent Washington lobbyist but has severed ties with his lobbying firm.

Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s chief foreign policy adviser, has lobbied for foreign governments and once lobbied McCain’s Senate office on behalf of the country of Georgia. Scheunemann was a registered foreign agent until March, when he ended his registration several months after joining the McCain campaign.

And as usual, when Obama opens his mouth in goes his foot.

Look who has his own lobbyists ties? His chief strategist David Axelrod:

When Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison wanted state lawmakers to back a hefty rate hike two years ago, it took a creative lobbying approach, concocting a new outfit that seemed devoted to the public interest: Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, or CORE. CORE ran TV ads warning of a “California-style energy crisis” if the rate increase wasn’t approved—but without disclosing the commercials were funded by Commonwealth Edison. The ad campaign provoked a brief uproar when its ties to the utility, which is owned by Exelon Corp., became known. “It’s corporate money trying to hoodwink the public,” the state’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn said. What got scant notice then—but may soon get more scrutiny—is that CORE was the brainchild of ASK Public Strategies, a consulting firm whose senior partner is David Axelrod, now chief strategist for Barack Obama.

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But the activities of ASK (located in the same office as Axelrod’s political firm) illustrate the difficulties in defining exactly who a lobbyist is. In 2004, Cablevision hired ASK to set up a group similar to CORE to block a new stadium for the New York Jets in Manhattan. Unlike Illinois, New York disclosure laws do cover such work, and ASK’s $1.1 million fee was listed as the “largest lobbying contract” of the year in the annual report of the state’s lobbying commission. ASK last year proposed a similar “political campaign style approach” to help Illinois hospitals block a state proposal that would have forced them to provide more medical care to the indigent. One part of its plan: create a “grassroots” group of medical experts “capable of contacting policymakers to advocate for our position,” according to a copy of the proposal. (ASK didn’t get the contract.) Public-interest watchdogs say these grassroots campaigns are state of the art in the lobbying world. “There’s no way with a straight face to say that’s not lobbying,” says Ellen Miller, director of the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes government transparency

Axelrod says he isn’t a lobbyist because he doesn’t do business in DC….thats a joke:

But his corporate clients do have business in the capital. One of them, Exelon, lobbied Obama two years ago on a nuclear bill; the firm’s executives and employees have also been a top source of cash for Obama’s campaign, contributing $236,211.

Not only is the man naive, but his campaign staff seems to be just as naive. Just look at some of the recent attacks:

1. Obama questions McCains support for Veterans (puhlease)
2. Obama tries to take the Wright heat off of him by comparing a few pastors who have endorsed McCain as being just as wacky. While they may be wacky, McCain never attended their church, had his children baptized by them nor was he married by the Pastors. Lastly, McCain has never stated the pastors were his mentors.
3. Obama gives backhanded praise on McCains experience, basically calling him to old. McCain answered:

“I admire and respect Senator Obama. For a young man with very little experience, he’s done very well. So I appreciate-with his very, very great lack of experience and knowledge of the issues, he’s been very successful,” McCain said to laughter from the more than 500 supporters gathered at an airport hangar rally Thursday afternoon. “So, don’t get me wrong-I admire and respect Senator Obama, but he does not have the knowledge, background or judgment to lead this nation in these difficult and challenging times and I do. And I can keep this nation prosperous and secure.”

4. And now he attacks his lobbyist ties when his own campaign strategist is a lobbyist.

Keep them coming Big O’…..

More here

UPDATE

William at Blog PI wonders why Newsweek buried their own story about Obama’s lobbyist ties but they do promote four other pro-Obama stories.

Curt

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