Earlier today, Michael Barone noted that the Washington Post ran “unadaulterated Obama spin,” courtesy of a campaign spokesman, in a story about lobbyist donations. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney “couldn’t have done it better,” Barone wrote.
Facing a related issue later in the day, Carney dodged questions about whether President Obama’s willingness to accept money raised for him by people connected to lobbying firms violates “the spirit” of his pledge not to accept money from lobbyists. He arguably did a worse job than the campaign spokesman, even though they had essentially the same talking points (as seems increasingly to be the case).
When asked about the lobbying firm executives who have raised as much as $500,000 for Obama, Carney first seemed to acknowledge that Obama does accept lobbyist money. “First of all, you make it sound like they don’t “register” [Carney made the hand sign for quotation marks] and so they’re somehow violating the law.”
He quickly shifted away from that point, though, and suggested the reporter should pay more attention to Republicans who accept lobbyist money, rather than Obama. “What’s interesting is that you’re citing that story and not the story that demonstrated that lobbyists are lining up in record numbers to contribute to Republican campaigns,” he said, “campaigns that openly and willingly accept money from lobbyists.” The response closely paralleled the campaign spokesman, who decried “that special interests are pouring contributions into the coffers of our potential opponents.”
Carney didn’t get off the hook with that response. “A woman who runs Pfizer’s lobbying shop . . . she’s raised $500,000 for the president’s campaign,” the reporter asked again. “Isn’t that violating the spirit [of Obama’s pledge]?”
Carney didn’t answer the question, but praised Obama and continued to attack Republicans
When asked again about the lobbyist fundraisers, Carney simply reiterated, “Again, the president’s standards are unequaled in this regard.” Carney called Obama’s record on rejecting lobbyist money “exemplary,” but never addressed the substance of the question or explained how Obama justifies his acceptance of money bundled for him by lobbyists.
You can see the video below.
