Clinton gets most lobbyist money, McCain most help

Hillary Clinton shows her deft skill at negotiating old money by bringing some of Washington DC's mllions into her hands. In fact, she's strong, able to convince special interests she'll even help them if they give her money.

Dear old Barack Obama had to raise his record funds from ordinary people because, well, it is important he gets their millions so he can give it to the poor (we call them TV stations in Chicago).

Clinton gets most lobbyist money, McCain most help

Jonathan D. Salant
Mon Feb 4, 1:29 PM ET

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Democrat Hillary Clinton has raised more money from lobbyists than any other presidential candidate while Republican John McCain has more of them assisting his campaign.

Clinton took in $823,087 from registered lobbyists and members of their firms in 2007 and the second-biggest recipient was McCain, who took in $416,321, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group which tracks political giving. Barack Obama, Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, doesn't take money from registered lobbyists, although he received $86,282 from employees of firms that lobby, according to the center.

McCain has 26 registered lobbyists as campaign advisers or fundraisers compared with 11 for Clinton and none for Obama, according to review of records compiled by Public Citizen, a Washington-based group that favors stronger disclosure laws for lobbyists.

Even as they pledge to rein in special interests, the leading Democratic and Republican candidates are relying on lobbyists to bring in campaign cash by raising money from other donors, a technique known as bundling.