Yes Mr. Obama, a Lobbyist IS Running Your Campaign

[MalloyLiberal]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/1/6/

Story Updated.
Daily Kos
Yes Mr. Obama, a Lobbyist IS Running Your Campaign
by owl06
Sun Jan 06, 2008 at 12:37:16 PM PST

In last night's debate, honey-tongued Barack Obama eloquently made his case for 'change.' Obama wants to form a coalition of willing Democrats, independents, and yes -- even Republicans -- to shake up Washington. Before Mr. Obama does to Washington, the first term Senator may want to consider shaking up his own campaign: His New Hampshire co-chair Jim Demers is a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.

Hillary Clinton informed the Senator that a lobbyist was running his campaign during a sharp exchange about health care. Obama righteously denied the charge, but unfortunately for Obama, it was
proven true by Time's Mark Halperin. Obama was either grossly misinformed or worse. More after the Flip.

* owl06's diary :: ::
*

How could Barack Obama not know that his campaign chair is a Big Pharma lobbyist? You can see the exchange here with your own eyes:

In order to understand the full dimension of Obama's coziness with lobbyists, you have to go back to his Chicago stumping grounds.

According to the Associated Press, "Barack Obama played poker and basketball with lobbyists when he was a state senator. He took their campaign donations and worked with them to write legislation ... A look at Obama’s seven years in the Illinois Legislature reveals a complicated relationship with lobbyists - particularly for someone who now makes criticism of lobbyists a centerpiece of his presidential campaign."

In the present Obama makes bold statements such as this:

"We have chance to say to the corporate lobbyist, your days of setting the agenda in Washington are over. They have not funded my campaigns, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I am president of the United States." – Barack Obama in Concord, New Hampshire, January 2008

But his rhetoric is not matched by the reality of his campaign's actions; he has a lobbyist running the show in New Hampshire. In this case, it is a lobbyist whom is registered to lobby for Pfizer and PhRMA.

What's more, Obama has paid lobbyists on his staff. The No Quarter blog reported that:

"Three political aides on Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) payroll were registered lobbyists for dozens of corporations, including Wal-Mart, British Petroleum and Lockheed Martin, while they received payments from his campaign, according to public documents."

In a recent interview with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, David Bonior, Edwards' campaign manager, made this observation:

"If you look at his record in Illinois when he had a major -- sponsored a major health bill that's what he did. He watered down with the help of the corporate lobbyist and they got a weak product out of that."

Is Barack misinformed, or is he lying? Democrats need to take a much harder look at Senator Obama, before the fox(s) ends up running the biggest of all hen houses. America cannot afford to play poker with our next President. It's about integrity.

Poll

Should A Big Pharma Lobbyist Be Running Obama's new Hampshire Campaign?
Yes, words matter more than actions
7% 11 votes
No, he should back up his own rhetoric
73% 112 votes
I'm blissfully ignoring it
19% 30 votes

| 153 votes | Vote | Results

Tags: Barack Obama, Lobbyists, Hillary Clinton, New Hampshire, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

View Comments | 225 comments

[Bluebear]

1. "Obviously we should have vetted Donnie McClurkin more. Nobody had any idea what his views were."

O8)

[MalloyLiberal]

2. I expect lots of ad hominem attacks and straw men, but..

It's true.

Obama lied.

Sigh.

[mopinko]

12. because of a kos diary?

that's all it takes? btw, the link does not work.

[CyberPieHole]

3. K&R for Obama's lies and deceptions...

Perhaps Obama will want to "change" his response?:evilgrin:

:kick:

[gaiilonfong]

4. Nice Try, but don't believe EVERYTHING you read on Kos

LMAO!

[NYCGirl]

5. Interesting in the AP quote about poker, the OP leaves out THIS part of the paragraph:

Barack Obama played poker and basketball with lobbyists when he was a state senator. He took their campaign donations and worked with them to write legislation. But he also helped pass ethics laws to reduce sharply their influence.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/01/AR2007120100745.html

Also:

But while in the state legislature, Obama was a relatively small fish when it came to Illinois political money.

He usually got donations of a few hundred dollars or maybe $1,000 in a state where interest groups routinely give key officials tens of thousands of dollars at a time.

Disclosure reports show he rarely accepted gifts or meals from lobbyists, even though there was no limit on such freebies until Obama helped pass a law establishing one. For him, a big gift was $50 worth of tickets to a Rembrandt exhibit from the Art Institute of Chicago.

AND:

Even friendly lobbyists could expect sharp questioning about their legislation.

"When you walked into his office, you'd better have all the facts," said Michael Lieteau, a lobbyist who played both basketball and poker with Obama. Lieteau lobbies for AT&T, which gave Obama at least $5,250 through its PAC.

Obama helped pass two of the toughest ethics laws in Illinois history, and both of them attempted to reduce the influence of lobbyists.

[mopinko]

6. and no names named. i love that.

lobbyist for this and that. who would those people be, exactly. like what are their names?

[NYCGirl]

8. What difference would it make? NT

[mopinko]

11. you expect me to believe this without facts?

i want them to name names so i can figure out who and what they are talking about. i am in obama's home town here. i know a lot of the people in the campaign personally.
why would you think that the facts don't matter?

[NYCGirl]

15. Everyone who is quoted in that article is named. NT

[zulchzulu]

19. It's funny how some people leave out the part where it skewers their intention

:shrug:

[geek tragedy]

7. Except that it's a damn lie. n/t

[Raejeanowl]

9. Has Obama Produced Those State Senate Records Yet? n/t

[Faryn Balyncd]

10. Here is the . . . LINK . . . to the LOBBYIST/INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTION totals for each candidate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3970324



There are HUGE DIFFERENCES (Well, actually HRC's & Obama's are somewhat similar. But there is one leading candidate who is markedly less beholden to lobbyist/industry special interests.








look at the totals & draw your own conclusions.





:kick:

[College Liberal]

13. Daily Kos

:eyes: He is such a girly man. I can't stand his lame ass. He annoys me. I wish he gets a real job and stop sitting behind a laptop all day being hateful. Kos, is that too much like doing right? :eyes:

[Joe the Revelator]

14. So what we have here is a couple of FORMER lobbyist and a NH Campaign Co-Chair who is no longer a

Lobbyist, but registered to act as one.

Whats the story?

[I was just saying...]

16. To vet or not to vet, that is question...'tis the season to be vetted

Its about damn time. Too bad a few NH voters may not pick up this little gem in time to
make the right decision. Quite a few actually.

What's worse is that he's played basketball with them, in turn they were allowed to play
legislature. Tsk, tsk.

[Triana]

17. the link you gave goes nowhere (n/t)

[MethuenProgressive]

18. "Is Barack misinformed, or is he lying?"

Yes.