Obama, then and now, on lobbyists working on his campaign

By Ethel C. Fenig

That was Obama then (June 5, 2008).

BRISTOL, Va. -- To rousing applause, Barack Obama formally announced this afternoon that the Democratic National Committee will follow his lead and begin refusing donations from registered lobbyists and special-interest political action committees.

"They do not fund my campaign," the presumptive Democratic nominee told a small-town southwest Virginia crowd, after delivering a standard refrain that blames drug and insurance interests for blocking universal health care. "They will not fund our party. And they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I'm President of the United States."

Well, at least not on the presidential level.

The Obama campaign confirms that two other arms of the national party - the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee - will continue to accept lobby and PAC money this election.

This is Obama now. (November 17, 2008)

Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to change Washington, vowing to upend the K Street lobbying culture he encountered when he joined the U.S. Senate.

But more than a dozen members of President-elect Obama's fast-growing transition team have worked as federally registered lobbyists within the past four years. They include former lobbyists for the nation's trial lawyers association, mortgage giant Fannie Mae, drug companies such as Amgen, high-tech firms such as Microsoft, labor unions and the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress.

Will the Daily Show, or for that matter the MSM, which so gleefully highlighted the Bush contradictions mention this contradiction? Mock it? Don't count on it.

Not that there is anything wrong with lobbyists. Or accepting government financing for campaigns. But if President elect Barack Obama (D) very publicly promises one thing--say accepting public financing for his campaign, not dealing with lobbyists-- and then blatantly and blithely ignores it, well you can only yell wolf so many times. The distrust, the cynicism builds. Eventually. Even for Obamamessiah. No matter what your definition of is, is.

hat tip: Hot Air