It would seem that dear John is having a problem with his image as of late, what with all of those lobbyist working for his campaign coming under fire for working for foreign governments and what have you. It appears that McCain's campaign is being run by nothing but " former " lobbyist and that even McCain's own group, The Reform Institute, is nothing but a fundraising outfit alive only for the purpose of raising cash for John McCain.
What is the stated purpose of The Reform Institute?
The Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) educational organization dedicated to advancing a solutions-based reform agenda. The Institute recognizes that resolving the most intractable problems confronting our society will require fundamental reform to the core of our democratic system. Such an agenda includes promoting open and fair elections, reducing the influence of special interests in our politics, and encouraging a political discourse that rises above blatant partisanship.
But wait! There's more!
The Reform Institute was founded in 2001 as a unique, independent voice for campaign finance reform in support of the McCain-Feingold federal soft money ban -- now the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) -- which marked the beginning of a new era in the reform movement.
The Institute’s campaign finance reform agenda is rooted in the principles of public accountability and transparency, empowering citizens and reducing the influence of special interests, encouraging electoral competition, and guaranteeing proper enforcement of campaign laws.
and then we have this little piece of info on this group..
From 2003 to 2005, the Reform Institute was led by Richard Davis...one of Washington's most powerful telecommunications lobbyists. The Reform Institute paid Davis some $395,000 in salary and consulting fees, even as he continued to receive hefty retainers from telecoms with interests before the Senate Commerce Committee. Which McCain chaired...after Cablevision CEO Charles Dolan appeared before McCain’s Commerce Committee to advocate for "‘a la carte" cable pricing, he and Davis met, and soon a Cablevision subsidiary contributed $l00,000 to the Institute. As reported by the Associated Press, the subsidiary kicked in another $100,000 in August 2004, three months after McCain wrote a letter to the FCC in support of Cablevision’s position. McCain took the stance even after a government study, produced at his request, concluded that Dolan’s system might lead to higher prices. Richard Davis is, of course, one of McCain’s closest advisers and chairman of both his presidential campaigns. Source
Maybe the straight talker should consider reforming himself before he tries to help anyone else.
NYTimes
“The core image of John McCain is as a reformer in Washington — and the more dominant the story is about the lobbying teams around him, the more you put that into question,” said Terry Nelson, who was Mr. McCain’s campaign manager until he left in a shake-up last fall. “If the Obama campaign can truly change him from being seen as a reformer to just being another Washington politician, it could be very damaging over the course of the campaign.”
This image as a " reformer " is the only thing that John McCain has going for him right now, and that image is slowly starting to unravel.
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