Will McCain have any advisers left?
WASHINGTON _ When national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler said adios to John McCain over the weekend, it was the fifth resignation since McCain decreed last week that campaign personnel must either quit lobbying or quit the campaign.
Had he hung around, Loeffler might have been an easy target on more than one score. He isn’t just a Washington lobbyist at a time when “politics as usual” in Washington are under attack. The Loeffler Group’s clients include the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, part of the group that beat out Boeing this year for a $35 billion air tanker contract from the Pentagon.
Loeffler’s lobbying activities alone not sound so unusual. But when coupled with a reminder that McCain helped scuttle the Boeing contract in 2004 by exposing improper dealings, it might threaten some votes in places where Boeing has a presence — places like Missouri and Washington state, where the outsourcing will cost jobs.
With more of McCain’s top talent choosing lucrative lobbying over presidential politics, where will it lead? Now there’s pressure on a key adviser, Charlie Black, who retired recently from a high-powered Washington lobby group that he helped found. The nonpartisan Campaign Money Watch is among the groups pushing for Black’s removal in a Web site it launched
Then there’s the McCain adviser who intends to step down for other reasons.
Mark McKinnon has the reputation as one of GOP’s most capable strategists and produced memorable ads for both Bush-Cheney campaigns.
But McKinnon, who has expressed high regard for Barack Obama since the Illinois senator started running, said over the weekend that he is following through with a commitment not to work for McCain if Obama is the Democratic nominee.
McKinnon, a Texan, told the Austin American-Statesman that he intends to leave the McCain campaign when the Democrats conclude their primary contest, likely in early June.
McKinnon said he’ll remain a McCain friend and supporter, but not a maker of ads. “I will show up from time to time and talk to the candidate still, but not about Obama,” he said.
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Slick Johnny Mc has a passle of lobbyists still running his campaign. They’re “on leave” or some other such drivel. What you need to know is that Slick Johnny Mc will take care of the drug, insurance, oil companies and utilities just like Bush. And he’ll keep on voting against budgets that help veterans, homeowners, children and single women.
John McCain is a Bush clone.