Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has another bullet point in his fight against Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton: she creates more lobbyists than he does.
“Hillary Clinton was in the Senate for only eight years but still trumps the longer-serving Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in the number of staff members who either had been registered lobbyists — or would be,” according to Legistorm, which maintains a database of congressional staffers.
Sanders’ candidacy rests on the idea that he is immune from special interest influence, unlike Clinton. The perception that she is the favorite of lobbyists created tension between his campaign and the Democratic National Committee, which rolled back President Obama’s ban on accepting money from such donors.
Clinton’s Senate office produced 22 eventual lobbyists, according to Legistorm, compared to 15 Sanders alumni. “Part of Clinton’s lobbyist lead can be traced to the fact she had a larger staff than Sanders because her state is much more populated,” Legistorm said.
His quest to defeat her will require converting the “superdelegates” who plan to vote for her at the Democratic National Convention, a group that includes dozens of lobbyists.
