Sarah Palin Meets With Former Clients Of Ex-Lobbyist McCain Campaign Advisor Today In NYC

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Wednesday September 24, 2008 · 4:32 AM PDT

2008/09/24 · 04:32

''You know who's in New York? Remember that guy - Juh - John somebody?''

Remember this guy? With Randy Schuenemann in tow (he was just out of the picture in Tuesday's photo ops,) Sarah Palin will meet with two more of his former clients from his former life as a lobbyist. They would be the President of Georgia, and the President of Ukraine. No word yet on when Sarah Palin will receive the Cotillion Introduction with other former clients, which include Romania, Latvia, Macedonia and Taiwan.

Every photo is one step closer to Foreign Policy Goddess, we are being led to believe.

We're already in Iraq. And she was at least in the next country over. Close enough for comfort.

"Well he was a...he was sort of a...he was a...he was sort of a..."

"Randy Scheunemann ran a very small firm in Washington called Orion Strategies, which had only a handful of clients, most of which were fairly prominent Eastern European governments: Latvia, Georgia, and several others who were seeking membership in NATO. And that was Scheunemann’s job, to help stir up interest and get them support for joining NATO." SourceWatch.

Besides some smaller countries, he's even lobbied on behalf of the National Rifle Association, which counts Sarah Palin as a member.

Randy Schuenemann, notes McClatchy, lobbied for the nation of Georgia a full year after joining McCain's campaign in 2007. Scheunemann took a leave from lobbying for Orion in March 2008, two months before McCain barred active lobbyists from serving on his staff. He was listed as Orion's president and owner until around May 15.

USA Today has reported that Randy Schuenemann is the foreign policy advisor to senator John McCain. He is the founder and partner of the lobbying firm Orion Strategies from 2001. Orion Strategies received between $900,000 and $730,000 from Georgia since 2001, including $200,000 for an eight-month contract that began on May 1, two weeks after McCain issued a strong statement criticizing Russia and supporting Georgia. He only stopped lobbying this past March. His connections to another questionable occupation involves his post at the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, from 2002 to 2003. In May of 2008, USA Today reported he contacted McCain's Senate office on Georgia's behalf last year while he was working for the campaign. According to the Washington Post, he's given $2000 to the McCain campaign.

"The fact that John McCain is proud of the lobbyists running his campaign and doesn't understand the conflict of interest his lobbyist-advisers represent shows that he simply cannot be trusted to bring change to Washington," Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee

Republican candidate John McCain has previously said he is okay with Randy Schuenemann's past. What will he be saying about Rick Davis if McCain ever talks to the press again after Tuesday's missteps?

So it seems John McCain and Sarah Palin are still supporting a form of a 'bridge to nowhere.'

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