The Washington Post Just Might Favor Obama For Re-Election

How bad? The Washington Post is so hacktastic here the NYT is relatively fair and balanced by comparison.

Three excerpts on donations from lobbyists, first from the Washington Examiner, then from the NYT, then the Washington Post.

Examiner:

President Obama doesn't take campaign contributions from lobbyists -- unless you count the owners and CEOs of lobbying firms, corporate vice presidents for government relations, or managing directors for public policy.

Well there's some news. Now the NYT:

Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions of dollars for his re-election bid.

Well! Even the NYT confesses this is newsworthy!

Now, the Washington Post. Enjoy:

K Street is playing an increasingly central role in the 2012 presidential race, as hundreds of lobbyists representing some of the world’s largest corporations and trade groups pour money into Republican coffers.

Oh, they do get around, eventually, to quickly mentioning a couple of lobbyist donors to Obama. But they only offer the Administration's spin.

...

LaBolt said Johnson [the lobbyist recently hired by the White House] will refrain from any issues involving past clients. 'For years the President has fought to ensure that Washington lobbyists don’t have undue influence over the policymaking process,' LaBolt said in a statement. 'There’s no doubt that special interests are pouring contributions into the coffers of our potential opponents and their allies because they believe that large corporations and millionaires and billionaires should get tax cuts instead of the middle class and that Wall Street should be able write its own rules again.'"

So, um, does Obama take money from lobbyists?

According to the Washington Post: No, and if he did, it was just a slip-up.

...

As he did in 2008, Obama has made a point of refusing to accept donations from lobbyists or corporate PACs, and his campaign has repeatedly portrayed Republicans as beholden to Wall Street and other well-funded interests. But Obama faced his own criticism this week after hiring a former corporate lobbyist as a senior campaign adviser.”

...

“Obama’s practice of refusing lobbyist contributions fits into a broader goal of seeking to curb the influence of special interests in Washington. After The Post inquired this week about two lobbyists who gave to the campaign, spokesman Ben LaBolt said the contributions would be returned.”

By the way, you know what would be sweet? If Obama stopped the practice of disabling his Address Verification System in his credit card donation operation to block illegal overseas donations.

Thanks to JohnE.

posted by Ace at 04:29 PM

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