A little while ago, I posted a comment on another diary regarding the new Obama ad calling out McCain's lobbyist advisers.
McCain says he puts his country first. Which country is he talking about?
Just now on MSNBC, I saw a clip of Barack Obama using the same line I had suggested.
The Obama campaign said they would come back swinging today and sure enough they are. Obama is sticking it to McCain about the lobbyists running The McCain campaign. Time and time again, McCain has gone on record about how terrible lobbyists are. Back in May, The New York Times published an article about Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager:
Rick Davis, the manager of Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, is a typical Washington insider in many ways, having long worked as both a lobbyist and a political operative along the intersection of politics, policy and money.
Now Mr. Davis is overseeing new lobbyist-related guidelines that the campaign has issued in an effort to safeguard Mr. McCain’s reputation as an opponent of special interests. The plan, among other things, bars "registered" lobbyists, those who must file disclosure reports listing their clients, from working on the campaign.
The idea back then was that no "registered" lobbyist would work for the McCain campaign, which McCain hoped would disarm criticism that he was being hypocritical when he railed against lobbyists and special interests. In reality, McCain's staff only severed their "official" status as lobbyists but that was really only putting lipstick on...
The New York Times reported on Charlie Black in May:
Charlie Black, a top adviser to Senator John McCain and former lobbyist who has been at the center of much of the public criticism about Mr. McCain’s ties to lobbyists, said the average voter had little interest in the issue. "This is complete inside-the-Beltway nonsense," said Mr. Black, who said he is now in retirement after stepping down as chairman of his lobbying firm, BKSH & Associates Worldwide, in March. He had been Mr. McCain’s adviser long before he quit the firm.
During the Russian conflict with Russia, it was revealed that:
Mr. McCain’s top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, lobbied on behalf of the Georgian government until March.
Finally, Obama is asking the question that needed to be asked from the beginning. If the people running McCain's campaign are the longtime lobbyists that McCain rails against, who will be in McCain's cabinet and how can he possibly fulfill his promises to reform Washington? The notion is preposterous.
When McCain says he puts "Country First", which country is he talking about?