McCain's Lobbyist Problem
Depending on how you feel about using legislation to protect American jobs, you may agree or disagree with John McCain's opposition in 2003 to proposed amendments in a defense spending bill that would have "prohibited any money from being used to pay a foreign express cargo carrier." McCain chaired the Senate Commerce Committee, and was successful in defeating the amendments. That cleared the way for "the sale of Airborne Express cargo service to a German conglomerate that owns DHL."
The sale isn't playing well in southeast Ohio now that "DHL wants to combine operations with rival United Parcel Service and close its huge hub" in Wilmington, a move that would cost 8,000 to 10,000 jobs immediately and as many as 30,000 in the long term. Here's what's even worse for McCain:
[T]he Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, previously worked as a lobbyist for the German group, Deutsche Post World Net, and was paid $185,000 to help engineer the 2003 deal, plus another $405,000 for other work. Davis helped Deutsche Post overcome objections in the Senate when the German company was negotiating the purchase, the paper reported.
Jake Tapper reports that this isn't the only problem with letting lobbyists run a campaign. [more ...]
Now, comes news that the Russian military has crossed a border into Georgia. "Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory," McCain said. ... You may already know that McCain foreign policy director Randy Scheunemann represented the former Soviet republic of Georgia as a lobbyist between 2004 and 2006.As of March 2008, Scheunemann no longer works as a lobbyist for foreign entities, but he remains a principal at his lobbying firm, which still has Georgia as a client. Awkward!
Voters will likely be less concerned about McCain taking foreign policy advice from lobbyists than they are about his willingness to take economic advice from lobbyists, particularly when that advice leads to a huge loss of jobs. McCain's promise to ask the Justice Department to review the proposed DHL merger for anti-trust violations is empty, given the Department's willingness to bless mergers during Republican administrations. Ohio voters are equally likely to be unimpressed with his promise "to help provide federal emergency grants and other aid to the displaced workers and devastated communities if DHL ends local operations." They want jobs, not job retraining and emergency assistance.
The larger question for McCain is whether he can credibly campaign as a different kind of Republican when he's surrounded by lobbyists. Barack Obama is running a radio ad (mp3) blaming McCain for the potential job loss. Whether or not you think the criticism is fair, it's likely to appeal to voters in a swing state who are worried about their jobs in a lackluster economy.
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