Getting by with a little help from their friends
It seems that so far this election cycle, there are already more lobbyists raising cash for candidates than in the entire 2004 campaign. That number spiked last night after some of Sen. John McCain’s lobbyist friends threw a fundraiser for the Arizona Republican over at Charlie Palmer Steak, near the Capitol.
Talk about good friends, each the 24 registered lobbyists who were listed as hosts of this shindig were on the hook to raise at least $10,000 for McCain. Public Citizen has the details in a study released today that looks at the number of lobbyists raising money for the presidential candidates.
You can get a lot more information about lobbyists and their bundling activities at WhiteHouseforSale.org, a site mainted by Public Citizen.
McCain, who was always a leading voice against the influence of lobbyists, now has 59 lobbyists raising money for him, according to the study. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is second with 35.
On the flip side, John Edwards has only 3 lobbyist fundraisers and Barack Obama has 10.