[Dems2008] Obama's Lobbyist Fib

Obama's Lobbyist Fib

By Craig Crawford | April 7, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (134)



PHILADELPHIA -- Watching the tube in Pennsylvania these days might as well be called watching OBAMA TV. I've seen my share of saturation advertising buys during campaigns, but this is unprecedented. In a five-hour session of watching one network I counted 14 ads sponsored by Barack Obama, compared to a total of three ads for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And guess what I woke up to on my hotel clock radio? Yep, that's right, the audio version of Obama's ad.

That's all well and good except for the fact that every one of the Obama ads I saw or heard present him personally telling what can only be charitably described as a half-truth -- that he takes no money from Washington lobbyists. "I'm the only candidate who doesn't take their money," he says in the ad entitled "For Decades" (see screen below).

Obama is careful to claim in the ad that he does not take money from "Washington" lobbyists. That's because he does take money from state-based lobbyists.

Long ago the media watchdogs, such as Politifact.com, determined that at best it is only half true for Obama to claim that he takes no money from federal lobbyists. He takes plenty of money and advice from those who work for lobbyists, such as former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.

Lucky for Obama, most of the news media seem not to care about such contradictions.


Politifact.com: If it quacks like a lobbyist, it's a lobbyist
Columbia Journalism Review: Obama's Lobbyist Line
ABC News:  Despite Rhetoric, Obama Pushed Lobbyists' Interests









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