Obama slams McCain on lobbyists
As John McCain hammers Barack Obama daily on his willingness to talk to leaders of objectionable regimes, Obama is hitting back on McCain and lobbyists in the upper reaches of his campaign.
“Now, we need a president who sees the government not as a tool to enrich friends and high-priced lobbyists, but as the defender of fairness and opportunity for every American," Obama said at a rally today in Tampa, Fla.
He said that McCain proposed a bill a decade ago to ban a candidate from paying registered lobbyists.
“Well, I’ll tell you that John McCain then would be pretty disappointed with John McCain now, because he hired some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington to run his campaign," Obama continued. "And when he was called on it, his top lobbyists actually had the nerve to say, 'The American people won't care about this.' Well, I think the American people do care about it and I know they have a clear choice in this election: we can either have a election in which we are taking on the root causes of special interests dominated politics in Washington or we can ignore the problem and we can wake up four years from now and still be talking about an energy crisis and still be talking about a healthcare crisis and still be talking about a tax code that's not fair to you. I don't want to wake up that way, neither do you.”
McCain has forced out several top campaign officials who were also lobbying and also put in place a new conflict of interest policy for his campaign.
But USA Today reported today that as recently as last November, McCain's top foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann, was lobbying McCain's Senate office on behalf of the republic of Georgia at the same time he was working for the campaign.
Tucker Bounds, a McCain campaign spokesman, responded to Obama: "Despite his own campaign’s ties to lobbyists, nothing comes between Barack Obama and a partisan political attack.
"In Senator Obama’s world, lobbyists can raise money and advise his campaign on policy issues, their families can contribute but supposedly they have no role," Bounds continued. "It’s absurd, despite his own rhetoric, Senator Obama still refuses to disclose the list of lobbyists advising his campaign. What is Senator Obama hiding? John McCain has an unmatched record of fighting the influence of special interests in Washington. The McCain campaign has implemented the strictest policy against lobbyists in presidential campaign history, and we challenge Senator Obama to meet our standard.”
MCCAIN IS JUST AN OLD PRETENDER.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID AND WE WANT OUR MEDIA TO BE GIVING US THIS INFORMATION
WHY HAVE THESE SO MANY LOBBYISTS WORKING FOR HIM THEN PRETEND TO BE AGAINST INTEREST GROUPS?
WHO DOES MCCAIN THINK AMERICANS ARE? IDIOTS?
LET THE OLD MAN GO HOME....THE PRESIDENCY IS FOR OBAMA
AMERICANS WANT CHANGE AND COME NOVEMBER MY VOTE ,MY WIFE'S VOTE AND THOSE OF MY ELEVEN KIDS AND THREE DRAND KIDS ARE FOR OBAMA.
ALSO I HAVE AN ISSUE WITH HIS AGE.
HE IS TOO OLD FOR AMERICA.
McCain please disclose your health issues!
McCain seems to not know what everyone else knows, his campaign is completely run and funded by lobbyist.
http://mediamattersaction.org/freeride/lobbyists/
The telecommunications industry is intent on controlling the FCC through the next president. Some of these lobbyist we have seen recently leave have worked for some of the worst dictators and shady characters you can think of in the world.
In response to #1 above, with 11 kids, I'm surprised you let you wife out of bed long enough to vote. Do you give her instructions on who to vote for?
Exactly what "special interest group lobbyists" does McCain have on his staff? It says in the above article that he, . . . . forced out several top campaign officials who were also lobbying . . . " I want facts, not emotions on which to base decisions! True enough Americans want change, but look at the change possible if we elect a person who even though he's a Republican, has repeatedly disagreed with George Bush and instead does what he believes to be right - damn the consequences! The more I read about the three main candidates right now (Clinton, McCain, Obama) , the more I believe that John McCain is the only honorable candidate who does what he believes to be right no matter what.
I think McCain sold his soul at the chance to become president.
Wow, what happened to "a new kind of politics"? This is just a classic smear, coming from someone who is not exactly pure in that regard himself... I was hoping for better from these two: a few months ago, I thought highly of both McCain and Obama. Now McCain is trying to make hay out of some pointless debate on who the president should or shouldn't talk to, while Obama lamely suggests that McCain = Bush. A pox on both their houses....
Anyone posting in all caps is not only a moron, but is probably older than McCain's mom.
Someone should take a closer look at Obama's bundlers. He's got some of the top lobbyists in Washington among his fundraisers. Some are not even identified as Lobbyists.
For Obama to complain about this is the height of hypocrisy. His own campain has many ties to groups who also are lobbyists. Examples include the various labor unions. If he is so "holy", why not disavow any ties to labor chiefs etc. He claimed to come to be a "post politician", not in the vein of what we have had. That is an example of his empty sophistry, and attempts to hoodwink the American public. Obama is just another of the long line of politicians with ties to big whatever, and he is guilty of all that he claims to not be.
And yet the farm bill, which is comprised of and benefits only the special interest of Farm lobbyists, was backed and supported by...
Senators Clinton and Barack Obama.
John Mccain voted against it.
Try again, with your lies and smears, libs.
McCain is a joke. This will all come out soon...
Democrats are worried about an "October surprise" on Obama---some piece of information that comes to light which will damage him. I think the "surprise" is going to be the looks on Republican's faces when they watch the Democrats fight in 08. No longer the party to be picked on by the bullies...
Just WAIT until they unleash the dogs on McCain. His wife has questionable business dealings and is a drug addict. He is known as the most hot-tempered senator in the senate. There is plenty more mud to sling Grandpa's way and I look forward to watching the beat down.
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