Democratic Debate: the Audacity of Misrepresentation
By Deb Cupples on April 18, 2008 at 9:50 AM in ABC News, Barack Obama, Big Oil, Hillary Clinton, Lobbyists, PACs & Lobbying Groups
Originally posted at the Buck Naked Politics blog.
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During Tuesday’s Clinton-Obama debate, the candidates were restrained but took a few jabs at each other. They made some policy statements, and each said that the other could beat John McCain. Blah, blah, blah. That’s what I figured I’d blog about.
As Barack Obama delivered the final words of the debate, however, my blogging plans changed because my jaw dove toward the floor over one thing that he said.
Obama reiterated that his campaign has not taken money from "registered federal lobbyists" or PACS, the message being that he isn’t tied to special interests the way other candidates are.
Technically, Obama did not lie about this point.
In reality, the representation is false, because Obama has taken special-interest connected money. The Hill had a story about this a year ago. My co-blogger and I blogged about it earlier this week. And yesterday, USA Today ran a story about it, which states:
"It’s accurate that Obama doesn’t take money from oil companies; neither do his opponents, because corporate contributions are illegal.
"But Obama, like Clinton and John McCain, has accepted donations from oil and gas company employees — $222,309 in Obama’s case from donors from Exxon, Shell, Chevron and others, according to campaign-finance data. Two oil company CEOs have pledged to raise at least $50,000 each as part of Obama’s fundraising team." (USA Today)
USA Today doesn’t stop there. It gives a laundry list of evidence that Sen. Obama may be tainted by special interests. The list includes but is not limited to the following:
- "Obama holds fundraisers at law firms that lobby in Washington. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor confirmed the campaign held five fundraisers at New York and Boston offices of three firms that lobby, including Greenberg Traurig [the same firm that lobbyist-turned-prison-inmate Jack Abramoff had worked for]….
- "Obama counts lobbyists among his informal advisers, including Broderick Johnson, who heads the Washington lobbying practice of Bryan Cave, which represents Shell Oil, records show. Nine campaign staffers have been lobbyists, public records show….
- "Obama accepts money from spouses of federal lobbyists. In December, the campaign returned a $250 contribution from lobbyist Thomas Jensen of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, but a few days later, it cashed a $500 check from his wife, Sarah, records show….
- "Obama is raising more than his opponents from executives of some of the corporate interests he criticizes. Obama has received more money from people who work at pharmaceutical and health product companies, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. He’s taken in $528,765 through February, compared with $506,001 for Clinton and $139,400 for McCain, despite saying last July that "’I don’t take pharma money.’" (USA Today)
This story should have broken widely back in January, as Obama gathered momentum partly based on claims that he was divorced from special interests.
Instead of questioning Obama’s claims and informing the public about disconnects, many media chose to give Obama a free pass.
After months of such media nonsense, USA Today did a bang-up job of hunting down evidence that casts doubt on Obama’s claims of political purity.
This story was printed yesterday: hours before the Democratic debate. Yet, Obama (once again) questionably claimed political purity hours after USA Today‘s story was printed.
Apparently, some of Obama’s campaign staffers didn’t read the USA Today story — or maybe they thought we ordinary folks hadn’t read it.
Memeorandum has commentary.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Signs of Bush Tactics & Hypocrisy in Another Obama Email
* Obama’s Questionable Claims of Political Independence
* Not Technically Fibbing: More on Obama’s Campaign Finances
* The Audacity of … Hypocrisy?
* Obama Took Oil Money but Said He Didn’t
* Obama Took Credit for Others’ Legislative Work, Media Ignored it
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