Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Fact Check McCain's Lobbyist Staff

Republicans say Sen. John McCain and his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, are mavericks. But in a new ad, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign says not so fast -- they're no maverick reformers.

Sen. John McCain has been criticized for employing top lobbyists in his campaign.

And it's a point that Obama has been making on the campaign trail in recent days.

"John McCain says that he is going to tell all those lobbyists in Washington that their days of running Washington are over, which sounds pretty good until you discover that seven of his top campaign managers and officials are -- guess what? -- former corporate lobbyists," Obama said recently in Flint, Michigan.

It's true: Seven top McCain officials were lobbyists, though the campaign stresses that none is currently registered to lobby Congress: Read who they are.