Lobbyist Charlie Black, McCain's senior advisor, says Americans don't care about special interests, big money in politics, and lobbyists making calls from the Straight Talk Express. Campaign Money Watch produced this web ad to help educate voters about who exactly has McCain's ear. Watch after the jump.
Today, the Washington Post examines Charlie Black's lobbying on behalf of foreign interests that offend American values:
But for half a decade in the 1980s, Black was also Jonas Savimbi's man in the capital city. His lobbying firm received millions from the brutal Angolan guerrilla leader and took advantage of Black's contacts in Congress and the White House.
Justice Department records that Black's firm submitted under the Foreign Agents Registration Act detail frequent meetings with lawmakers and their staffs and lavish spending by Black and his partners as they attempted to ensure support for Savimbi, whose UNITA movement was fighting the Marxist Angolan government.
Then in his 30s, Black already had established himself as a pioneer of the revolving door between campaign consulting and lobbying, having been a senior adviser on President Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign before returning to K Street. And his clients, as often as not, were foreign leaders eager to burnish their reputations.
Charlie Black has got to go. He has no place in a presidential campaign.