The McCain-Lobbyist Connection

Not only does the McCain campaign have more current and former lobbyist bundlers than any other candidate, but McCain has more current and former lobbyists working on his campaign staff than any other candidate in the 2008 presidential election. Media Matters for America has previously catalogued the extensive number of lobbyists and their deep connections to industries, such as the communications industry, which McCain oversaw as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

As the graphic below illustrates, McCain's presidential campaign is chock full of former and current lobbyists. Point your mouse at one of the campaign staffers surrounding McCain to see who they have lobbied for.

UPDATE: Recently, media scrutiny of the lobbyists working for John McCain's campaign has led to several resignations from the McCain camp. On May 15, the campaign announced a new conflict-of-interest policy barring registered lobbyists and foreign agents from working for the campaign. Campaign spokesman Jill Hazelbaker has reportedly said that the policy would not be retroactive.

McCain staffers who have left the campaign due to potential lobbying conflict-of-interest issues but who are not represented in the graphic below include Doug Davenport and Eric Burgeson. Doug Goodyear, whom McCain chose to run the Republican National Convention, also resigned from his post after it was revealed that his firm had lobbied for the military junta in Myanmar. The graphic below has been updated to account for recent changes in personnel and lobbyist status.

For documentation and citations for the information provided below, click here.