Lobbyists In A Tiff With McCain

10:50 am EST May 21st, 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments

They’re asking him where the love is.

Five lobbyists have been shown the door of McCain’s Virginia campaign headquarters in the past week, including Tom Loeffler, who is largely credited with keeping the senator’s primary campaign financially afloat long enough to capture the Republican presidential nomination.

“If it was OK to have these people working for you in February, why is it not OK today?” asked one Republican lobbyist who counts a friend among the new McCain outcast class.

The timing, motivation and even the details of the policy itself all are the subject of debates and consternation this week at water coolers, in restaurants and on conference calls on K Street.

“McCain’s self-righteous [expletive] has caught up with him. Now he’s got himself in a jam,” said another Republican lobbyist who asked to remain anonymous because he is a campaign volunteer. “He’s got to change the subject back to economic growth and taxation and the war on terror.”

And there’s this thought from another McCain supporter: “I find it a little offensive. It was good enough to get my $2,300 donation. If we’re not good enough, then send my check back. It pisses me off.”

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4 Responses to “Lobbyists In A Tiff With McCain”

  1. zak822 says:
    May 21, 2008 at 11:49 am

    I have to wonder if those lobbyists would still be on the job if we hadn’t had the flap about the female lobbyist who had been traveling with Sen. McCain.

    I think he’s just trying to show that lobbyists don’t influence him, so he can keep her around.

    I’d try to keep her around too, especially if I was his age.

  2. Duros62 says:
    May 21, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    “If it was OK to have these people working for you in February, why is it not OK today?”

    You’re usefulness is at an end.

  3. merl says:
    May 22, 2008 at 7:15 am

    I’d be pissed, too.

  4. Dave in SoCal says:
    May 22, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    While we’re on the subject of lobbyists…

    Obama’s claim of [lobbyist] independence questioned

    From the article:

    Obama holds fundraisers at law firms that lobby in Washington. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed the campaign held five fundraisers at New York and Boston offices of three firms that lobby, including Greenberg Traurig, whose lobbying clients include gambling and handgun interests.

    Obama counts lobbyists among his informal advisers, including Broderick Johnson, who heads the Washington lobbying practice of Bryan Cave, which represents Shell Oil, records show. Nine campaign staffers have been lobbyists, public records show. Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

    Obama accepts money from spouses of federal lobbyists. In December, the campaign returned a $250 contribution from lobbyist Thomas Jensen of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, but a few days later, it cashed a $500 check from his wife, Sarah, records show. Jensen said his wife had “personally chosen” to contribute to Obama.

    Obama accepts contributions and fundraising help from state lobbyists. Florida lobbyist Russell Klenet hosted a fundraiser for Obama Aug. 25, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Two months before, Klenet had withdrawn as a lobbyist in Washington for a kidney dialysis company that relies heavily on federal revenue, Senate records show. Klenet did not return phone calls.

    Obama is raising more than his opponents from executives of some of the corporate interests he criticizes. Obama has received more money from people who work at pharmaceutical and health product companies, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. He’s taken in $528,765 through February, compared with $506,001 for Clinton and $139,400 for McCain, despite saying last July that “I don’t take pharma money.”

    Vietor declined to answer questions about lobbyists’ role in the campaign and the candidate’s decision to accept contributions from lobbyists’ spouses and partners. He called Obama’s policy an imperfect but important symbolic step.

    But the best paragraph has to be this:

    Yet Obama’s 20 largest sources of money, grouped by employers, are executives from major corporations and law firms with a Washington lobbying presence — including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Google, according to the center. Clinton’s and McCain’s top donors include executives from some of the same companies, such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

    I see. So Clinton and McCain are hopelessly tainted by lobbyist influence, while Obama somehow remains above it all.

    Nope, no hypocrisy there. /sarcasm