Holier than thou

Published on April 21, 2008
by Michael Schrimpf

File Under: Faulty Assumptions, Lobbying Regulation

At the close of the Pennsylvania primary, both Democratic candidates are now accusing each other of "maintaining ties to special interests they both claim to reject."

The Associated Press reported that Hillary Clinton's latest ad declares, "In the last 10 years, Barack Obama has taken almost $2 million from lobbyists, corporations and PACs. The head of his New Hampshire campaign is a drug-company lobbyist, in Indiana an energy lobbyist, a casino lobbyist in Nevada."

Not to be outdone, Obama's ad said he "'doesn't take money from special-interest PACs or Washington lobbyists - not one dime.' Clinton does, it added, accusing her of ‘eleventh-hour smears paid for by lobbyist money.'"

Before going any further down this holier than thou road, both candidates would do well to heed their own past words - words that come closer to speaking the truth.

Just this month, Obama had this to say about his campaign's bundlers:

"They are very active, though they don't interact much with me...They interact mostly with each other. They are not as a general rule part of my day-to-day policy or advisory committee, although there are some people who have raised money for me who are also prominent business leaders. And so, for example, if we were putting forward a economic plan, and there was some expertise there, we might tap into it.

And back in August, Sen. Clinton declared that "Lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans." They "represent real interests, nurses, social workers..."  She also asserted that "the idea that a contribution is going to influence my record" is not rooted in reality.