Obama's campaign figures show that 94 percent of the money going to Obama comes from people writing checks for $200 or less.ĬNN obtained an e-mail in which a top-dollar fundraiser promised a private meeting with Obama for Iranian Americans if the group could raise $250,000. 'We know that Barack Obama has raised at least $52.2 million from bundlers, or about 18 percent of his overall receipts,' Krumholz said. Sheila Krumholz, executive director for the Center for Responsive Politics, says the organization has been working to find out more about bundlers such as how much they have raised and where they work, so they can better identify the source of the money. IRI gets almost all of its money from the federal government to do things like promote democracy around the world and help governments run more efficiently - a cause McCain believes in.Ī former IRI staffer who also worked for McCain's 2000 presidential campaign said that while the IRI event may have brought McCain and lobbyists together, the event did not involve any favors or deals.Īdditionally, a candidate can completely avoid lobbyists and rake in millions from so-called bundlers, deep-pocket contributors who work to get others to fork over the maximum individual contribution. Sometimes you don't even need to see the candidate, you just talk to staff members, the people who influence a candidate's decision,' Sabato said. It's getting in the door to see the candidate so you can make your case. McCain at the time was fresh off a term as chairman of the Senate committee that regulates telephone companies.ĪT&T said there were no strings attached to the donation, but that's not always the point. This past April, McCain spoke out against lobbyists, saying 'workers and entrepreneurs of America are taken for granted by their government while the lobbyists and special pleaders are seldom turned away.' Watch more on McCain's interactions with lobbyists »īut McCain raised eyebrows in 2006 when he attended a fancy soiree of the little-known but well-respected International Republican Institute in Washington.Ī video from the group's Web site shows the chairman of AT&T - which had just donated $200,000 to the institute - introducing McCain, who is still chairman of its board. 'And just because you don't take money from lobbyists, of course, does not mean you're not taking money from big business.' 'People who are not directly registered as lobbyists but perhaps working for a company, maybe working for a company in a capacity that's tangentially related to the government affairs, can give money,' said Lisa Lerer, who covers lobbying for Politico. The senator from Illinois also has taken in $18.8 million from lawyers and law firms, according to estimates from the Center for Responsive Politics, and some of those firms employ lobbyists for special interest clients. Candidates slam Bush, each other on economics.Did McCain flip on affirmative action? Not exactly.His campaign says it steers clear of registered federal lobbyists, but it does take money from lobbyists at state and local levels. Obama has pledged not to take money from lobbyists, but even within that promise there are loopholes. Still, both candidates maintain they are above the influence of lobbyists. In all, lobbyists reported contributions of $4.7 million to Democrats and $3.3 million to Republicans, the Times reported this week.īut those figures only include registered lobbyists and trade groups - not big companies that could have lobbyist ties. So, absolutely there's a lot of hypocrisy involved,' said Larry Sabato, a politics professor at the University of Virginia.ĭuring this campaign, lobbyists and trade groups donated $181,000 to McCain, while Obama received $6,000, according to the New York Times. They are going to depend on lobbyists for a lot of the information on the decisions they make if they get elected. They have staffers who have been lobbyists. Politicians know that tough talk on lobbyists sounds good to the public, but the reality is that top level candidates can't live without them, experts say.

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