Lately, presidential candidate Barack Obama has been reminding voters that his campaign does not accept donations from federal lobbyists or political action committees, "casting his decison as a noble departure from the ways of Washington."
Today, though, the Boston Globe reports that "behind Obama’s campaign rhetoric about taking on special interests lies a more complicated truth. A Globe review of Obama’s campaign finance records shows that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator in Illinois, a US senator, and a presidential aspirant."
According to the Globe, "In Obama’s eight years in the Illinois Senate, from 1996 to 2004, almost two-thirds of the money he raised for his campaigns — $296,000 of $461,000 — came from PACs, corporate contributions, or unions, according to Illinois Board of Elections records. He tapped financial services firms, real estate developers, healthcare providers, oil companies, and many other corporate interests, the records show."
(No word on why Obama did not have his "revelation" while particpating in lilly-clean Illinois politics for 8 years.)
Back to the Globe, "Obama’s US Senate campaign committee, starting with his successful run in 2004, has collected $128,000 from lobbyists and $1.3 million from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. His $1.3 million from PACs represents 8 percent of what he has raised overall. Clinton’s Senate committee, by comparison, has raised $3 million from PACs, 4 percent of her total amount raised, the group said.
In addition, Obama’s own federal PAC, Hopefund, took in $115,000 from 56 PACs in the 2005-2006 election cycle out of $4.4 million the PAC raised, according to CQ MoneyLine, which collects Federal Election Commission data. Obama then used those PAC contributions — including thousands from defense contractors, law firms, and the securities and insurance industries — to build support for his presidential run by making donations to Democratic Party organizations and candidates around the country."
Additionally, the Globe reports that "though Obama has returned thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from registered federal lobbyists since he declared his candidacy in February, his presidential campaign has maintained ties with lobbyists and lobbying firms to help raise some of the $58.9 million he collected through the first six months of 2007. Obama has raised more than $1.4 million from members of law and consultancy firms led by partners who are lobbyists, The Los Angeles Times reported last week. And The Hill, a Washington newspaper, reported earlier this year that Obama’s campaign had reached out to lobbyists’ networks to use their contacts to help build his fund-raising base."
The Obama campaign explains his new campaign theme as part of Obama’s "evolution."
Boston Globe:
"Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that after seeing the influence of lobbyists firsthand during his two years in Washington, Obama decided before he entered the presidential race that he would take a different approach to fund-raising than he had in the past.
"He’s leading by example and taking steps that he feels need to be taken on the national stage to clean up the undue influence of Washington lobbyists on the policies and priorities of Washington," Psaki said. "His leadership on this issue is an evolving process."
Of course, what is left unsaid is that this "undue influence" of lobbyists has clearly never impacted the decisions of Obama. Instead, he must simply being looking out for the public good and protecting his (unnamed) weaker colleagues from the "undue influence" of lobbyists.
MSNBC follows up on the Boston Globe article with this observation:
"And speaking of glass houses, Nevada political guru Jon Ralston notes in his "Flash" daily newsletter that Obama just signed up his third Carson City lobbyist to his campaign. As Ralston asks: "So D.C. lobbyists are bad and Carson City lobbyists are different?" Ralston wasn’t kind to the Obama campaign in how they rolled out the support of ex-State Sen. Helen Foley. Notes Ralston: "Foley is identified as an ex-lawmaker and then this": "Following her time in office, Foley has worked to advance a large number of community programs and local causes, including the Clean Indoor Air Alliance and increasing women’s participation in elected politics. She is now the co-owner of a local public relations agency."
