The special interests are at it again. At least, that seems to be the story from the campaign trail, as candidates of all political stripes seek to portray opponents as part of the “Washington problem.” Stories relating to the campaign contributions that lobbyists are spending to help elect or re-elect ideological friends in Congress have proliferated in the past two months.
Very few lawmakers will defend their working relationships with lobbyists, although Minority Leader John Boehner has never apologized working with them, even after an uncomplimentary New York Times article portrayed him as “tightly bound” to lobbyists.
Linda McMahon was recently in the news when she claimed that she “[had] not spent lobbying dollars in Washington,” a claim that was subsequently proved wrong, when her company WWE was reported to have spent more than a million dollars on federal lobbying in the past ten years.
The Washington Post makes the point that both President Obama and then-candidate John McCain made a point of attacking the lobbying industry. Post writers also call out former Senator Dan Coats, who is attempting a comeback Senate run, as being hit by his opponent for his post-Senate career as a lobbyist, and Senate candidate Sharron Angle in Nevada, who is blasting her opponent, Harry Reid, for being the top recipient of lobbyist campaign contributions.
The Washington Post article is here; an Open Secrets blog post on the topic is here.
Tags: john boehner, linda mcmahon, lobbyist campaign contributions, midterms
