Barack Obama vowed Thursday that the Democratic Party “won’t take another dime” from lobbyists, although the party’s congressional committees have no qualms about such money.
“I’ve sent a strong signal in this campaign by refusing the contributions of registered federal lobbyists and PACs,” Obama told an audience in Bristol, Va. “And today I’m announcing that going forward, the Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard and won’t take another dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs.
“They do not fund my campaign. They will not fund our party. And they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I’m president of the United States.”
Although Obama said “lobbyists use their clout to block reform,” he did not ban donations from lobbyists and special interest political action committees to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And although the DNC will no longer take such funds, it will not refund earlier donations.
The Republican National Committee and its congressional committees accept PAC and lobbyist money. So does GOP presidential candidate John McCain, although he recently purged his campaign of staffers and fundraisers who were too closely tied to the lobbyist community.
“Truly, this is such a phony issue,” said Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Both Obama and McCain have been guilty of holier-than-thou positions on PACs and lobbyists.”
He added: “PACs are a campaign reform from the 1970s. There is nothing corrupt about them. Good lobbying is essential to democracy and it is a First Amendment right.”
Obama’s ban on lobbyist and PAC donations to the DNC came two days after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and signaled his effective takeover of the national party apparatus, much as McCain did when he clinched the GOP nomination. Although Obama will continue to put his stamp on the DNC, he will not oust its chairman, Howard Dean.
“The DNC and the Obama campaign are unified and working together to elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States,” Dean said Thursday. “The American people’s priorities will set the agenda in an Obama administration, not the special interests.”
