John McCain Raises Money From Chamber Of Commerce During Wall Street Reform Debate

Sen. John McCain stepped away from the Senate debate on Wall Street reform Thursday to raise a little campaign cash at the Chamber of Commerce's townhouse near the Capitol.

The Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate arrived in a Ford Fusion with Arizona plates and was immediately confronted by Center for American Progress blogger Lee Fang, who asked if McCain supported the Democrats' legislative response to the Supreme Court's decision undoing restrictions on corporate campaign ad spending.

McCain said he did not: "As far as I can tell, to start with, there is no provision concerning unions."

Fang suggested that the bill treated unions and corporations the same. (It does, according to the outline, but the bill's opponents say the sections that ban ad spending by government contractors and foreign-owned corporations wouldn't apply to labor groups.)

"It favors the unions a great deal," McCain said.

Fang asked if that's why McCain is having lunch with the Chamber of Commerce, which hates the bill.

"I love the Chamber of Commerce," said McCain with a huge smile. (The chamber's headquarters are downtown, but anyone who wants to influence politics has a townhouse by the Capitol for hosting fundraisers like this one.) "They help business. I hope you get involved in it, too."

"They helped kill McCain-Feingold," said Fang, referring to the 2002 campaign finance reform law championed by McCain that the Supreme Court partially struck down in its Citizens United decision. The Chamber of Commerce and McCain himself filed amicus briefs on opposite sides of the case.

"They are really wonderful people," said McCain.

The invitation to the event was made public by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation.

Comments

[goodmarina]

02:44 PM on 05/07/2010

Oh that's so Mavericky!

[cedy195]

02:35 PM on 05/07/2010

A good pimp has more class than this tried prume face fool LOL!!!!

[SILVANUS]

02:25 PM on 05/07/2010

For the good of America and true freedom, someone lock up this crazed little Gnome.

[rbenjamin]

12:59 PM on 05/07/2010

Country first? Not likely. McCain has always been a privileged, spoiled brat. The son of a son of an admiral. He has known genuine suffering, but so did many of his of his immediate peers. I believe he is genuinely conflicted between a powerful sense of duty and his equally powerful sense of privilege. Combine this with a life long anger management problem (his mom used to put him in ice water to stop his tantrums) and you get erratic, impulsive, often finger-in-the-eye behavior. Any other man in his circumstances would have thrown out of the Naval Academy, washed out of Naval Aviation and would have died of from lack of medical treatment in a North Vietnamese prison. McCain's heritage got him that treatment. Yet, he was an important factor in improving post war US - Vietnam relations and has often crossed party lines in a courageous and effective way. This is one complex guy and worthy of a Shakespeare Play. It's tragedy he didn't retire after the 2008 election.

[1other1]

11:55 AM on 05/07/2010

This is simply a desperate man.

[Clearing-Brush]

10:35 AM on 05/07/2010

How mavericky........... Just another sell-out Repub.

[lisaman]

10:15 AM on 05/07/2010

Is there no behind he won't kiss to get what he wants?

[cactusgal]

10:10 AM on 05/07/2010

"Los Loser"

[Margo Arrowsmith]

09:50 AM on 05/07/2010

It is really sad to see a man who once was fairly decent descend into this. He was never perfect, but this is just too sad.

Wasn't he still sort of OK back when Rove and Bush smeared him with push poll lies in 2000? But if he is going to be bitter about this, shouldn't he at least come out against those what did him wrong instead of siding with the right against decent people.

[free thinker 3-5-7]

09:37 AM on 05/07/2010

My friends!!!!!, I tell you, change has come, My friends, We need a maverick and I am that Maverick, My friends, I never considered myself a Maverick, that's what makes me such a Maverick, my friends.

[free thinker 3-5-7]

09:35 AM on 05/07/2010

Reporter: The Chamber of Commerce said your daughter was a attention hawk, and you wife was a lied about mother theresa

McCain: Bless their hearts, they are real patriots

Reporter: The Chamber of Commerce said you where one of most uninformed politicians in Washington.

McCain: The Chamber of Commerce is a vital part of this country, and I am proud to have lunch with them. I am John McCain and I approve this message.
LOL

[carpdd]

09:27 AM on 05/07/2010

Well I guess we can honestly say that Johnny boy is no Maverick when it comes to kissing a$$. He is however a creepy individual on so many levels I find it hard to believe that he has lasted this long in the Senate. FLIP FLOP FIVE ! he should be the poster boy for what is so very wrong with our government today!

[Wolfsghost]

09:09 AM on 05/07/2010

Even the weasels are embarrassed by John now.

[Kevin Atlanta]

08:26 AM on 05/07/2010

Of course McCain loves the Chamber. He's a Republican Cults of Jesus Inc candidate and has made a life off feeding his greed by pandering to the Corporate Communists.

[ribanbel]

07:48 AM on 05/07/2010

McCain is a fraud

[CTtransplant]

12:48 PM on 05/07/2010

I believe that, after reading that Rolling Stone article, he has always been a fraud. Fanned!