John McCain's Lobbyists (the list)

Listening to the McCain campaign talk about lobbyists over the last few days I was reminded of that scene from Casablanca between Rick and Captain Renault. Renault expresses faux outrage over gambling.

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

The McCain campaign's response to their recent McLobbyist scandals is just as fake.

To date, John McCain has 118 lobbyists either working or raising money for him. So far, he's fired only three of them:

Eric Robert Burgeson

Douglas B. Davenport

Thomas Loeffler

This is hardly even a slap on the wrist.

The remaining 115 lobbyists make millions working for special interests in Washington. They represent all kinds of industries like health insurance companies, Big Pharma, defense contractors, and Telecom. They represent foreign regimes like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Burma. And they hold positions at the highest levels of the McCain campaign.

John McCain says he represents the American people, but the men and women Senator McCain has chosen to run his campaign have worked for years for special interests.

Here is the full list of the lobbyists working or raising money for John McCain:

Robert Aiken

Grant Aldonas

Philmore B. Anderson

Rebecca "Becky" Anderson

Stanton Anderson

Susan Auther Andres

Robert Asher

William J. Bailey III

William Ball III

David Beightol

Rhonda A. Bentz

Wayne Berman

Steve Betts

Charlie Black

Judy Black

Kirk Blalock

Carlos Bonilla

Christine Burgeson

Kerry Cammack

Kirsten Ardleigh Chadwick

Rob Chamberlin

Susan Charlton

John Clerici

Josephine "Jo" Cooper

James Courter

Bryan Cunningham

Alfonse D'Amato

Ashley Davis

Kurt Davis

Rick Davis

Mimi Dawson

John Diamond

Frank Donatelli

Melissa "Missy" Edwards

Kevin Fay

Christian Ferry

Chris Fidler

Thomas Jr. Fiorentino

Sally Furman

Samuel K. Geduldig

Ben Ginsberg

David Girard-di Carlo

Michael Glassner

Juleanna R. Glover Weiss

Phil Gramm

John Green

Janet M. Grissom

Wes Gullett

Kristen Gullott

Kent Hance

Robert Harding

Vicki Hart

Robert van Laer Hartwell

John D. Heubusch

Deborah Hohlt

Richard Hohlt

Gaylord T. Jr. Hughey

Peter Huntsman

Aleix Jarvis

Greg Jenner

Christine Jones

Nancy Johnson

Mary Kate Johnson

Ned Johnson

Charles N. Kahn III

Mike Kennedy

William Kilberg

Steve Kuykendall

William "Bill" Lesher

Jack Lichtenstein

Gail MacKinnon

Peter Madigan

Mary Mann

Paul Martino

Mary McAuliffe

John McGovern

Mike McKay

Timothy McKone

Alison H. McSlarrow

Kyle E. McSlarrow

Michael E. Meece

David A Metzner

Susan Molinari

John Munger

Ken Nahigian

Susan Nelson

Jack Oliver

Steve Perry

Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer

Steve Phillips

Elise Pickering

James L. Pitts

Timothy Powers

Anthony Principi

Michael Racy

Sloan W. Rappoport

James Rill

Steve Roman

Matt Salmon

Joseph Samora

Randy Scheunemann

Katie Stahl

Milly Stanges

Aquiles Suarez

Fife Symington

Jeri Thompson

Dirk W. Van Dongen

David Vennett

Raymond T. Jr. Wagner

Jeffrey Weiss

Richard "Dick" Wiley

Tony Williams

James Woolsey

Joseph Wright

Fred Zeidman

You can take a look at the people they worked for and the positions they hold within the McCain campaign over at McCainSource.com.

Does John McCain actually expect us to believe that of the 115 lobbyists left, none of them will come back to the White House looking for favors if he gets elected?

Comments

[merrylee]

and don't forget a related issue -

11 of his National Co Chairs have founded/funded 527's to the tune of $23.2 million since 04 alone -
eg: Jerry Perenchio $5M to found Progress for America in 04, then another $5M in 06 - you know, after the Maverick took him to court for it in 05

[dgscol]

It is nice these guys have an insurance policy against unemployment - that is, unelectability. This is a Congressional revolving door, and ought to be a main campaign issue. Why are foreign countries, foreign companies, and multinationals, who do not pay any taxes or have not pledged allegiance to our flag, getting preferential consideration in Washington?

Where is the straight talk? Should we have ever taken him seriously?
What are the Dems? Where are they on this issue? They are talking like we ought to get our jobs back.
Maybe is US companies, who pay taxes and cannot use US foreign aid to pay off lobbyists, could get some domestic issues raised, something good could happen. Instead we are getting more crap out of Washington .... foreign aid for poverty, give away patent rights to foreign countries, and more H1B visas for foreign workers.

The latest : Feinstein/Craig rider on the supplemental war funding bill to grant amnesty to millions of illegal Mexican immigrants. H.R.2642. Contact your Congressman by phone. Voting before the weekend.

[DShawn233]

Lobbyists involved in my campaign??? Where??? Says who????????? You are as likely to find a Lobbyist inside of my campaign as you are to see a tax return from Cindy.

Signed,
Senator John McCain

[flatus]

Ahhh...is there anything more beautiful than an "American hero" cashing in?

[DickTater]

Thank You Mr. Mattzie for doing the job the CorporoMedia is so opposed to doing.

Just a simple list, and all of their graphics wizards and crack researchers just somehow couldn't manage to show such a simple list to the american public. I guess all those budget cuts to the newsrooms has them down to crayons, a chalkboard, and some old overhead projector gels from the late 70s. The projector needs a bulb.

[Triciann]

John McCain would make a dreadful President. Everyone talks about his service to the country. a lot of that is just "political correctness". We should really be concentrating on the present and the future. However, just a couple of things about his past. During training he crashed two planes, one by getting tangled in power lines in Spain. Anyone who has anything to do with the military knows what that means; McCain was showing off; he was being reckless. His personal life showed a reckless attitude too. We don't need a reckless guy deciding he will send a message to the Middle East by launching bombing attacks on Iran; maybe even a nuclear bomb! You think he wouldn't? I don't!

We also need to question his honesty and ethics; his best friends are lobbyists!

[conservativeoriginalist]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't McCain campaign during the primary on a platform of being anti-lobbyist? Did he not say ad nauseum he wants to stamp out earmarks (which is the result of lobbying)?

[najablah]

Sure he did. He's spent his entire career in Congress creating the image that he is a Maverick, and the traditional media has bought that image hook, line, and sinker. Never mind the fact that none of his fabricated image comports with reality. So long as the talking heads keep calling him a Maverick and a Straight Talker, he wins.

[frappe]

115 lobbyists and McCain is being promoted by the mainstream media as some sort of "maverick" or rebel? Sounds and looks like "more of the same" from the Republican party to me.

[mcole]

why is this writer referring to nigeria as a regime? i am seriously offended by this lack of proper research, you cant just labelafrican or any other countries what you like in order to make your less than accurate point.
i dont care how many lobyists are working for the babangida's, Ibrahim Babangida is dead, and his family is not in power. why do you then claim whoever is a lobbyist for a non regime country based on one citizen? thats poor reporting, poor research and i am highly offended.

[ICanHasDemocracy]

A "regime" has the connotation of being a temporary status, and therefore-changeable at the whim of say, an aggressive "decider" .

[swooge]

IBB is not dead and he's trying to gain power in Nigeria once again. He has great wealth from which to back his candidacy from pillaging Nigeria's coffers.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805191218.html

Who's doing the poor research again?

[MrHHusseinMA]

With all due respect, Nigeria has been one of Africa's worst regimes and continues to be the most corrupt failed state in Africa. I come from Africa and have studied African nations extensively. For a primer, please read Chinua Achebe's book, The Trouble With Nigeria.

[indypete]

Wasn't it Bill Maher that said all candidates should wear their sponsor's logos on their suits like Nascar drivers?

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

McCain's wife is worth 100 million plus, and she says her tax information is none of our business. Are the McCain's hiding something not appropriate for a Senator and presidential candidate?

[Comanchero]

Nevertheless, Obama accepts money from lobbyists" spouses and other family members, their partners at the law firms where they work if the partners aren"t registered to lobby, senior executives at companies that hire lobbyists, and state-level lobbyists. Among his top fundraisers are at least a few who were registered lobbyists as recently as last year, such as Alan Solomont, who says he withdrew his registration as soon as he signed on to raise money for Obama. The campaign says it is making a "best effort" to stay away from tainted money. "It isn"t a perfect solution to the problem and it isn"t even a perfect symbol," spokesman Burton has said

Yea, he is different all right, but still just the same in many aspects!

[swooge]

What part of the Constitution would you like to do away with? Lobbyists, if American citizens, have every right to donate money to a political campaign as a private citizen.

Like you said, Solomont withdrew his registration.

[DoninJoisey]

I am one of over 1,500,000 Americans who have donated to Obama - I assure you, I am not a lobbyist.

McCain and Clinton are funded and run by lobbyists. Is Obama perfect? No, but of the three, it's pretty clear who is at least trying to end government for sale.

[BlackWidowPilot]

Two little words: *Charles Keating.*

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[Comanchero]

A year ago, Griffin invited Obama to speak to employees of his Chicago hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, and in subsequent months, employees and their families gave the candidate nearly $200,000. Griffin had previously backed Republicans, including Obama's initial U.S. Senate opponent.

¦Several on Obama's list at least appear to have interests in conflict with his platform. There is the billionaire casino developer who plans to put a slot parlor in Philadelphia; Obama has decried gambling for its steep "moral and social cost." And there is the director of General Dynamics, the military supplier that has seen profits soar since the onset of the Iraq war and that has benefited from at least one Obama earmark.

FactCheck.org:

In addition, two oil industry executives are bundling money for Obama " drumming up contributions from individuals and turning them over to the campaign. George Kaiser, the chairman of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., ranks 68th on the Forbes list of world billionaires. He's listed on Obama's Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the candidate. Robert Cavnar is president and CEO of Milagro Exploration LLC, an oil exploration and production company. He's named as a bundler in the same category as Kaiser.

Also from FactCheck.org:

[econdr]

so, 50k from an oil man, 200k from a hedge fund manager.
but he got nearly $100M from the little guy (people including me). the average donation to his campaign is about $100

Who is he beholden to?

[ramblingjohnny]

Yeah if Obama make a speech in a auto part factory today in front of hundreds of regular workers chance are he is going to get donations from some of them in the next two week to come. I mean you meet the man you decide that you like him and what he says you make a donation to his campaign nothing wrong with that. And if you work at an hedge fund chance are you are going to make a bigger donation than an auto worker.

[cylindar]

You missed one--The Devil

[CocteausTwin]

LOL

[Liberoservative]

"Does John McCain actually expect us to believe that of the 115 lobbyists left, none of them will come back to the White House looking for favors if he gets elected?"

Well of course he does! He's the Straightalker and he doesn't believe in lobbyists or earmarks (just conducting massive land deals for his pals) ... and since he's a Republican, it has to be true!

*off to go bang my head against the wall*

[shrinqrap]

"America - Love It or.............. Lobby It"

[0j0]

Hey Tom (or anyone else),

I'd be curious to learn how many lobbyists Obama and Clinton have working for them. BTW, I'm leaning Obama at this point. But just curious.

[Liberoservative]

This article talks about lobbyists that work for Obama... I have emailed his campaign to ask how many are still working for him and who they lobbied for.... It is a common practice, apparently... both Clinton, Edwarrds and Obama had/have lobbyists working for them. I am also curious what their role is... are they there to court a certain demographic? I have no idea...

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/lobbyists-on-obamas-08-payroll-2007-12-20.html

[Boboday555]

I was curious too until I realized it was McCain who promised not to dirty his hands with lobbyists not Senator Obama or Clinton.

McCain knows his base is used to being lied to by its leaders.

[KBAR]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/NEWS0206/804160445/1001/RSS01

WASHINGTON " Barack Obama often boasts he is "the only candidate who isn't taking a dime from Washington lobbyists," yet his fundraising team includes 38 members of law firms that were paid $138 million last year to lobby the federal government, records show.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-15-obamainside_N.htm

Obama's claim of independence questioned

[TruthSeeker09]

I think what you're missing is that McCain's lobbyists have been found to have substantial influence in his campaign. They've served in policy roles and have advised his campaign while actually lobbying for their clients (companies and/or countries). That creates a substantial conflict of interest that Obama has avoided.
Here's an example. Charlie Black, a lobbyist who is McCain's Senior Campaign Advisor (he runs McCain's campaign), has actively lobbied while working on political campaigns:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10470.html

By the way, I think it's a little silly to say that someone takes money from lobbyists when the donations are not given from a lobbying entity. In other words, see econdr's comments. Where does one draw the line? Are lobbyists or anyone from an industry completely unable to act/donate as private citizens?

[econdr]

i worked for a hedge fund last year, and i have donated like $400 to obama this year. does that mean he's taking hedge fund money?

no, I am not a hedge fund. It just so happens that my former employer was one though.

[Fotios]

He took individual contributons from people working in law firms. This is not lobbying money. If you recall, he graduated from Harvard Law, was a Columbia Law professor and worked for a law firm in Chicago...

So, yes, a lot of lawyers support him with individual contributions. Good try though.

[betz55]

How many of them are from AIPAC ? Our foreign policy is still owned by Israel.

[econdr]

that'll change if the republicans are successful in driving a wedge between the democrats and israel...

[genoasail]

McCain isn't actually running a campaign, so much as a not-very-well-disguised lobbying group.

McCain/Washington Lobbyists for President 2008

Our slogan is "Business As Usual"

[RadicalConservative]

Why don't you post the list of lobbyists taht Obama has working for him? Go ahead, try and tell us that he doesn't have any working for him.

[econdr]

hey radical conservative.

your tax rates will be 60% once obama is done with you.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH

[Boboday555]

Still stateside Bushy?