Democratic National Committee McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Transparency in...

Democratic National Committee McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Transparency
in Lobbying

Today's McCain Myth: John McCain understands that Americans want to clean up
the culture of corruption.

WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release was issued
today by the Democratic National Committee:

John McCain says "[e]thics and transparency are not election year buzz words;
they are the obligations of democracy and the duties of honorable public
service." Yet his top campaign advisors have no problem lying about their
lobbying records. Their excuse? Americans don't care -- something McCain has
yet to say if he agrees with. [johnmccain.com, accessed 5/19/08]

In fact just yesterday senior advisor Charlie Black told reporters, according
to the Wall Street Journal, that he complied with the new campaign ethics
rules "before there even was a rule" even though he lobbied from the back of
the Straight Talk Express last year. Black's opinion on if any of this matters
to America's voters? "Hell no. This is complete inside-the-beltway nonsense."
When asked if he agreed with Black's assessment, McCain refused to directly
answer the question and instead spouted rhetoric, saying "we wanted to make
sure there was an effective and comprehensive and transparent policy towards
lobbyist..." [Wall Street Journal, 5/19/08; foxnews.com, 5/19/08]

After all of John McCain's talk about corruption in Washington, now he isn't
practicing what he preached. Ethics and transparency seem to be just buzz
words for McCain, who clearly will do or say anything to win.

Black Claims to Have Adhered to No-Lobbying Rule Before There Even Was One.
"Black said he complied with the policy 'before there even was a rule.' Black
said he has no income from either his firm or the campaign but joked about an
allowance from his wife, Judy Black, who is a lobbyist."
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/05/19/top-mccain-adviser-defends-his-lobbyist-past/

FLASHBACK: Charlie Black Lobbied from the Back of the Campaign Bus; Black Slow
to Relinquish Lobbyist Job, Despite Working as McCain Senior Advisor. Many
McCain campaign advisers have been slow -- or have simply failed -- to
relinquish their lobbying roles, such as Charlie Black, who despite being a
fixture on the Straight Talk Express through late 2007 and early 2008, only
relinquished his role at BKSH in early April 2008. "Suffice it to say," wrote
the Washington Post, all of McCain's lobbyist advisers, "have a stake in the
legislation that McCain will work on, even if he continues to be merely a
senior senator on Capitol Hill." [Washington Post, 11/20/07; US News & World
Reports, 5/28/07; The Hill, 3/8/06; The Atlantic, Marc Ambinder, 3/27/08]

Charlie Black Admitted Lobbying From the Straight Talk Express. "But even as
Black provides a private voice and a public face for McCain, he also leads his
lobbying firm, which offers corporate interests and foreign governments the
promise of access to the most powerful lawmakers. Some of those companies have
interests before the Senate and, in particular, the Commerce Committee, of
which McCain is a member. Black said he does a lot of his work by telephone
from McCain's Straight Talk Express bus." [Washington Post, 2/22/08]

Campaign Official Lies About Lobbying McCain. "Loeffler last month told a
reporter 'at no time have I discussed my clients with John McCain.' But
lobbying disclosure records reviewed by NEWSWEEK show that on May 17, 2006,
Loeffler listed meeting McCain along with the Saudi ambassador to 'discuss
US-Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relations.'" [Newsweek, 5/26/08]

...But Resigns Only After Media Reports "Lobbying Entanglements." "Former Rep.
Thomas G. Loeffler, a Texan who is among the McCain campaign's most important
advisers and fundraisers, has resigned as a national co-chair over lobbying
entanglements, a Republican source told Politico on Sunday. It's at least the
fifth lobbying-related departure from the campaign in a week. The McCain
campaign, already facing the prospect of being badly outgunned in the general
election, now also must cope with the disruption of the lobbying shakeout."
[politico.com, 5/18/08]

After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking
in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican
Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail
McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even
contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate
Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The
Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the
man behind the myth.

Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
www.democrats.org.

This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
committee.

SOURCE Democratic National Committee

Damien LaVera or Caroline Ciccone of the Democratic National Committee,
+1-202-863-8148