In an odd column a few months ago, Richard Cohen praised John McCain for having “a visceral hostility toward the ways of Washington’s K Street lobbying crowd.”
It looks like the Arizona Republican has come around on the lobbyists he claims to disdain.
John McCain, who made his name attacking special interests, has more lobbyists working on his staff or as advisers than any of his competitors, Republican or Democrat.
A Huffington Post examination of the campaigns of the top three presidential candidates in each party shows that lobbyists are playing key roles in both Democratic and Republican bids — although they are far more prevalent on the GOP side. But, all the campaigns pale in comparison to McCain’s, whose rhetoric stands in sharp contrast to his conduct.
“Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day when issues of public policy are being decided,” McCain asserts on his web site, declaring that he “has fought the ‘revolving door’ by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided.”
In actual practice, at least two of McCain’s top advisers fit precisely the class of former elected officials he criticizes so sharply.
For the candidate who based his 2000 campaign on challenging lobbyists and “entrenched” special interests, McCain has put together quite a crew: two of Washington’s most powerful, high-paid lobbyists — Tom Loeffler and Slade Gorton — are co-chairmen of the senator’s presidential campaign. “All told,” Tom Edsall reported, “there are 11 current or former lobbyists working for or advising McCain, at least double the number in any other campaign.”
To be sure, McCain’s “clean” image was always more rhetoric than reality. Regardless, McCain still bills himself as a “reformer” who’s wiling to challenge the DC establishment, and a surprising number of political journalists still buy into the hype.
It’s what makes reports like these so damaging.
