Thread: Special interests lining McCain war chest

Special interests lining McCain war chest
Monday, December 31, 2007
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., took a break from the presidential campaign trail in March to fly to a posh Utah ski resort, where he mingled with hundreds of top corporate executives assembled by J.P. Morgan Chase for its annual leadership conference.

Mr. McCain's appearance at the Deer Valley event, arranged by J.P. Morgan Vice Chairman James B. Lee Jr., a top McCain fundraiser, put him in a room with the chief executives of companies such as General Electric, Xerox and Sony. It was, Mr. Lee said, "a chance for him to let them see him for who he is and possibly decide to support him." The effort paid off: J.P. Morgan executives have donated $56,250 to Mr. McCain's campaign, two-thirds of which came after his Utah appearance. And his visit there was quickly followed up by dozens of smaller private meetings with corporate executives in New York City arranged by leading Wall Street figures.

"We tried to get him around to a lot of those kinds of things," said McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. "We were very much in the friend-making business."

It is common for politicians to court big money during a campaign. But private schmooze sessions such as the gathering in Utah pose a particular dilemma for Mr. McCain, who has spent a long career decrying "special interests" and politicians who offer special access to them in order to raise money. As a presidential candidate this year, Mr. McCain has found himself assiduously courting both lobbyists and their wealthy clients, offering them private audiences as part of his fundraising. He also counts more than 30 lobbyists among his chief fundraisers, more than any other presidential contender.

Mr. McCain's aides bridle at the notion that the senator, who has consistently fought in the Senate against so-called pork-barrel spending from such interests and championed laws to restrict their lobbying and political donations, might favor his big contributors.

Mr. McCain began his anti-special-interest drive two decades ago after he and four other senators were accused of trying to influence bank regulators on behalf of Charles Keating, a savings-and-loan financier later convicted of securities fraud. The Senate Ethics Committee said Mr. McCain had used "poor judgment" but also said his actions "were not improper" and did not merit punishment.

Ever since, Mr. McCain has made high ethical standards a hallmark of his public persona.

Nonetheless, a recent study by the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute and the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen found that Mr. McCain has more lobbyists raising funds for his presidential bid than do any of his rivals. He has 32 "bundlers" of donations who are lobbyists. Former New York Republican Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is the closest to him with 29 lobbyist bundlers, followed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., with 18.

Mr. McCain's campaign has also been guided by lobbyists. Mr. Davis, the campaign manager, is a former lobbyist who represented major telecommunications companies. The campaign's senior adviser is Charles Black Jr., chairman of BKSH & Associates, which represents drug companies, an oil company, an automaker, a telecommunications company, defense contractors and the steel industry, among others.

McCain began the 2008 race as a GOP front-runner and quickly raised more than $30 million, boosted by large sums of GOP establishment money from such sources. But his prospects plunged by summer and his campaign spent so heavily that it ran out of money, leaving him financially far behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Mr. Giuliani.

Mr. McCain jettisoned much of his campaign team over the summer and took a loan to bridge the financial gap, but in recent weeks he has begun to rebound in the polls, giving new life to his campaign and fundraising operation. "The money is coming in very heavily now," Mr. McCain boasted yesterday on ABC's "This Week."

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07365/845636-176.stm

It is common for politicians to court big money during a campaign. But private schmooze sessions such as the gathering in Utah pose a particular dilemma for Mr. McCain, who has spent a long career decrying "special interests" and politicians who offer special access to them in order to raise money. As a presidential candidate this year, Mr. McCain has found himself assiduously courting both lobbyists and their wealthy clients, offering them private audiences as part of his fundraising. He also counts more than 30 lobbyists among his chief fundraisers, more than any other presidential contender.

That is why I like Ron Paul. You can't tell me that this BIG MONEY and lobbyists doesn't expect something in return. I wouldn't want to be beholden to anyone except the american people.

All that money, and still a dud.

Heh.

Originally Posted by BearFlagRepublic

All that money, and still a dud.

Heh.