McCain's Special Interest & Lobbyist Claims Challenged

[ECW]

For all the complaining the John McCain does on the stump about Washington's culture of lobbyists and special interests, he sure doesn't distance himself from that culture when it comes right down to it. In fact, he seems to be right in the middle of the whole morass that he so eagerly damns on every occasion. When even the Washington Times points out the fallacy, then it's time to take notice.

Two of Sen. John McCain's top advisers and fundraisers are among several Republican and Democratic presidential campaign officials whose lobbying firms have been paid more than $15 million by foreign governments since 2005.

The firms of McCain senior adviser Charlie Black, who until recently was the chairman of Washington-based BKSH & Associates, and campaign co-chairman Thomas G. Loeffler, who heads the Loeffler Group in San Antonio, received millions of dollars lobbying the White House, Congress and others as agents of nearly a dozen foreign clients in recent years.

"At no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain, and there have been many occasions where he has voted against my clients' interests, but that doesn't change my belief that John McCain is the best candidate to lead our nation," said Mr. Loeffler, a former Texas congressman, whose firm has received millions of dollars from Saudi Arabia.

The arrangements are legal, and hundreds of lobbyists are registered to work for foreign clients. But experts say conflict-of-interest questions can arise if lobbying and campaign activities overlap.

more...

~link~ (http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/NATION/299288489/-1/RSS_FP)

[PostmodernProphet]

there is a big difference between being a candidate supported by people who have engaged in lobbying, and accepting money from lobbiests to support their clients......

[ECW]

or to have the actual lobbyists on your staff advising you while the buddies who work in the office can bundle contributions for your campaign.

[PostmodernProphet]

/shrugs....politicians out of office work as lobbyists......I would speculate that 90% of the people on EVERY candidates campaign have experience working as lobbyists at some time or other.....

[ECW]

/shrugs....politicians out of office work as lobbyists......I would speculate that 90% of the people on EVERY candidates campaign have experience working as lobbyists at some time or other.....

and that would require a source if you expect me to believe it...

[PostmodernProphet]

and that would require a source if you expect me to believe it...

lol, do you understand the concept of "speculate"......

[ECW]

lol, do you understand the concept of "speculate"......

Here in Texas we call something like that 'talking out your ass.' Is that what you mean?

[PostmodernProphet]

no, I use "talking out your ass" to describe posts like yours.....

[ECW]

Well, I speculate that you are the expert on "talking out your ass"/speculating around here since it was your post that FIRST brought it up.

It doesn't change the fact that McCain is surrounded by the very lobbyists he decries on the stump. Why take money from them when they are already part and parcel of your very campaign and you wind up doing their bidding without being paid off?

[PostmodernProphet]

Well, I speculate that you are the expert on "talking out your ass"/speculating around here since it was your post that FIRST brought it up.

It doesn't change the fact that McCain is surrounded by the very lobbyists he decries on the stump. Why take money from them when they are already part and parcel of your very campaign and you wind up doing their bidding without being paid off?

and your conclusion that he is doing their bidding, rather than what he wants to do is based upon.......?

is it not logical that someone would work to get someone elected who has a history of voting in a way that they like?....that doesn't mean that someone is voting a particular way to get money......

[ECW]

and your conclusion that he is doing their bidding, rather than what he wants to do is based upon.......?

is it not logical that someone would work to get someone elected who has a history of voting in a way that they like?....that doesn't mean that someone is voting a particular way to get money......

The flip-flops in positions from 8 years ago to now.

It IS logical for someone would work to get someone elected who has a history of voting in a way that they like. What is disingenuous is denying that it is taking place. Bashing lobbyists and their money in your stump speech but hiring lobbyists to be your campaign advisors is the mark of a hypocrite.

[PostmodernProphet]

The flip-flops in positions from 8 years ago to now.

It IS logical for someone would work to get someone elected who has a history of voting in a way that they like. What is disingenuous is denying that it is taking place. Bashing lobbyists and their money in your stump speech but hiring lobbyists to be your campaign advisors is the mark of a hypocrite.

so let me see if I understand this correctly....McCain has a long history showing that he does not do the bidding of lobbyists who try to give him money.....but because he gave THEM money to work for him instead, he's a hypocrite?......

[Moorington]

What I got from the article was that John McCain is Saudi Arabia's "Manchurian Canidate." How does his "I will do battle in the Middle East for the next hundred years" play into that whole scheme? I don't really believe Saudi Arabia wants American troops next door for that long.

[ECW]

so let me see if I understand this correctly....McCain has a long history showing that he does not do the bidding of lobbyists who try to give him money.....but because he gave THEM money to work for him instead, he's a hypocrite?......

Nope.

McCain has a long history of saying he doesn't do the bidding for lobbyists but he turns around and hires them to run his campaign. So, he doesn't take their PAC money and be held accountable for his statements while instead doing exactly as the special interests wants him to do with the insider lobbyist disguised as an "advisor" showing him the way. All this takes place while lobbyists bundle their personal contributions to donate to his campaign. Don't even try to suggest that he doesn't know one contribution from another because it's all part of the public record. If journalists can dig it up, he can, too.

The disingenuous part is he marches right in line with lobbyist requests on bill after bill after bill but thinks he can escape scrutiny by just not taking PAC money. Some people fall for that.

[PostmodernProphet]

McCain has a long history of saying he doesn't do the bidding for lobbyists but he turns around and hires them to run his campaign.

so instead of doing their bidding, he has them doing his....I still don't see the "hypocrite" part......

[ECW]

Even some Republican stalwarts are appalled at McCain’s coziness with the influence-peddling industry. “Can you imagine a bunch of people working for Halliburton trying to elect Cheney?” says a prominent GOP consultant. “How can that be legal? Even if it is legal, it’s never happened before. And it says a lot about what McCain has become. In 2000, he was the candidate of reform, of anger, of screw the system. Now he’s the candidate of lobbyists, endorsements, and special deals with Beltway banks.”

~link~ (http://nymag.com/news/politics/45997/)

While John McCain travels the country, giving policy speeches, weighing in on the news of the day and raising much-needed cash, his campaign manager is quietly selling their gameplan to the inside-the-beltway crowd.

Last Friday morning, Rick Davis met with over 100 Republican Chiefs of Staff at the Capitol Hill Club and presented the campaign's de-centralized strategy and talked up their interlocking efforts with the RNC, according to sources who were present.

The previous night, Davis was giving a similar, if broader, presentation to a smaller group of the capital's top lobbyists and p.r. gurus at Johnny's Half Shell, a Capitol Hill watering hole.

Davis spoke to about 30 people, according to a lobbyist who attended, and described the gathering as the manager's "first major outreach to the Washington community."

Present were top officials from energy and utility concerns such as Nuclear Energy Institute, Edison Electric, the American Petroleum Institute, American Gas Association and Exelon. Also there were senior executives from heavyweight p.r. firms Edelman and Burson Martseller.

Davis discussed the coordination with the RNC and, when the guests asked how they could help, suggested giving to the committee. Individuals can give the Victory fund, based out of the RNC, $28,500.

~link~ (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0408/McCain_manager_makes_the_DC_rounds.html)

Contrast this with what was written about him back in 2000 when he first ran for president:

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2000 — Sen. John S. McCain's presidential aspirations are firmly anchored to his central theme of campaign finance reform. "The influence of money is corrupting our ability to address the problems that directly affect the lives of every American," states McCain's Web site. The Republican from Arizona has proposed several bills over the years that would ban soft money from the political process, eliminating what he believes to be the corrupt influence of special interests, lobbyists and fat-cat donors.

So when McCain's reform plan was attacked in recent months by Washington lobbyist Grover Norquist's group Americans for Tax Reform, the campaign found a perfect opportunity to lash out at its critics. "It is clear that John McCain has upset the lobbyists and status quo establishment in Washington with his calls to clean up our political system," McCain 2000 New Hampshire Chair Peter Spaulding said. "The fat cats may be against him, but here in New Hampshire, John has the people on his side."

~link~ (http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=522)

So which John McCain is it? The one who campaigned to reduce their influence in Washington or the one who hires them now to run his campaign? Hypocrite or sell-out? Which is a better term to describe him?

It doesn't make any difference. He's both.

[PostmodernProphet]

interesting.....I find your first quote nowhere in your link....I do find this however, which I like....

“Their patience,” he is saying of the American people, “is at an end for politicians who value ambition over principle, and for partisanship that is less a contest of ideas than an uncivil brawl over the spoils of power.”

[ECW]

Funny. I found it on page three without really trying.

The point is McCain is no longer the Republican maverick tilting against the corrupting influence of lobbyists.

He's George Bush's third term and all that entails. Had enough?

[PostmodernProphet]

Funny. I found it on page three without really trying.

The point is McCain is no longer the Republican maverick tilting against the corrupting influence of lobbyists.

He's George Bush's third term and all that entails. Had enough?

no, you could keep me laughing for weeks....