McCain campaign advisor quits over lobbying ties

By JoAnne Allen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top adviser overseeing finances for Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has quit over his ties with lobbying, a McCain campaign official confirmed on Sunday.

Former Texas Rep. Thomas Loeffler, a national finance co-chairman, is the latest McCain adviser to step down amid concern over potential conflicts of interest among lobbyists in the campaign.

He is the fifth person who worked on McCain's campaign to resign recently over links to lobbying activities.

McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee to contest the November presidential election, has made ethics and transparency a centerpiece of his campaign. Last week he established a policy of requiring advisers with lobbying ties to sever them or leave.

Newsweek magazine reported that Loeffler's lobbying firm has collected nearly $15 million from Saudi Arabia since 2002 and millions more from other foreign and corporate interests, including a French aerospace firm seeking Pentagon contracts.

Campaigning in Oregon, Barack Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, took a swipe at the Arizona senator, saying he appears to be "very much a creature of Washington."

"And it does appear that over the last several weeks John McCain keeps on having problems with his top advisers being lobbyists, in some cases for foreign governments or other big interests that are doing business in Washington," Obama said.

"That. I don't think represents the kind of change that the American people are looking for."