Clinton Defends Lobbyists
After dozens of forums in the last four months, it seemed as if the presidential candidates had run out of new things to say, and despite the promise of Netroots sparkle, today's YearlyKos roundtable, held in a poorly lit, cavernous convention hall, was kind of dingy.
And then Hillary Clinton was forced to explain to why she accepts contributions from federal lobbyists.
Twice in the debate, Sen. John Edwards challenged his fellow candidates to refuse to accept contributions from federal lobbyists. The second time he brought up this demand, the narrator, Matt Bai, asked Clinton whether she'd continue to take money from lobbyists.
"I will," she said.
"A lot of those lobbyists whether you like it not, represent real Americans," she said. "They represent nurses, social workers" -- here the audience began to boo -- "and yes, they represent corporations and they employ a lot of people." "I just... I just ask you to look at my record." Never, she said, in her 35 years of public service, had she bowed to the will of a lobbyist. But she would not change her mind.
Two hours earlier, Clinton spoke to a convention of police officers in Chicago and might well have pointed out that police officers employ lobbyists; unions in Washington use dozens of them, as do non-profits, colleges, universities, towns and cities.
This is one messed up candidate! |
