McClatchy Newspapers: Presidential candidates are no strangers to lobbyists

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Presidential candidates are no strangers to lobbyists
David Goldstein | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: April 24, 2008 04:00:05 PM

WASHINGTON — What's one of the more popular political pinatas that all three presidential hopefuls enjoy swinging at, besides one another?

"You can't be the champion of working Americans if you're funded by the lobbyists who drown out their voices," Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said in his concession speech Tuesday night after losing the Pennsylvania primary. "... We won't take a dime of their money."

"I'm announcing an agenda to rein in the special interests," Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton told union workers last fall.

"Everyone says they're against the special interests, but I'm the only one the special interests don't give any money to," Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, boasted earlier in the campaign.

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Despite how much they demonize special interests, all three candidates take political and policy advice from many of the lobbyists who represent them, such as the energy and pharmaceutical industries. They also count on lobbyists to raise funds for their campaigns.

"It strains credulity to say these lobbyists aren't going to occupy a special position in the mind of a person elected president," said Taylor Lincoln, a research director at Public Citizen, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group. "Whether getting improper favors or just getting their phone calls returned, they undoubtedly are going to be treated with more reverence than the average citizen."

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