John McCain has made his name synonymous with campaign reforms. For the longest time his crown jewel was the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, more widely known as the McCain-Feingold Act.

This law, which became effective in 2003, helped limit the role of soft money being used in campaigns.

This secured McCain’s image as the maverick GOP senator. He’s the outsider who stands on his own merits. The man who is free and clear of lobbyists…oh wait…no, he’s not.

As the Washington Post reported in response to the poorly-written New York Times article about McCain’s supposed relationship with a lobbyist, most of McCain’s top advisors are lobbyists.

According to the Post, “His campaign manager, Rick Davis, cofounded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications…His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington’s lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, J.P. Morgan and U.S. Airways…Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O’ Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae…”

Wow.

This appears to be very much a “do as I say, not as I do” politician. As McCain said during a campaign stop in November, “I’m the only one the special interests don’t give any money to.” They do help them out, though.

Should McCain be elected, all these lobbyists will have extremely close ties, and presumably, influence in the White House. Of course, this is just ridiculous.

It’s wonderful that the GOP continues to be the party of catastrophe, from Larry Craig to constant corruption scandals to dragging the United States into the quagmire that is Iraq.

What doesn’t make sense is how people continue to vote Republican. Unless you are rich, the party shows little interest in you.

The party offers nothing but the kickbacks for people with connections. It seems that its one plan is to ensure that the rich get richer.

McCain is just another example of how the party is out of touch. Does he not realize the message he is sending? To use a GOP term from the 2004 election, McCain is a “flip-flopper.”

All politicians have inherent contradictions; it seems to come with the territory, but McCain’s lobbying stance is just pathetic.

He claims to be incorruptible but should he win the election, you’d have to be pretty gullible not to believe that lobbying won’t be occurring in the West Wing.
It’s time to shape up, Mr. McCain. This country needs a real leader, not someone who pretends to be one.