Clinton Does Labor-to-Lobbyist Loop
EmailABC News’ Rick Klein Reports: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, under fire from her rivals for accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists, will head directly from a labor forum in Chicago to a fundraiser at a lobbyist’s home Tuesday evening.
Clinton, D-N.Y., plans to attend a dessert reception in Wilmette, Ill. — minimum contribution: $1,000 per person — at the home of Kevin Conlon, the founder and president of Conlon Public Strategies. Conlon is registered with the federal government to lobby for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to receive federal subsidies.
The event will be held shortly after an AFL-CIO Democratic presidential forum at Soldier Field in Chicago, where Clinton and the rest of the Democratic presidential hopefuls will answer questions from the organized labor community.
Aside from Conlon, another member of the 30-person "Illinois Host Committee" listed on the invitation for the fundraiser is also a federally registered lobbyist: Stacey Zolt-Hara of Res Publica Group.
According to Senate lobbying records, Zolt-Hara and her firm are registered to lobby the federal government on behalf of a Forest City Commercial Group — a real-estate giant — and the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, which "seeks appropriations funding for new Center for Regenerative Medicine, a stem cell research project." Zolt-Hara is a former high-ranking aide to Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.
Since the weekend, Clinton has been coming under fire from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former senator John Edwards, D-N.C., for continuing to accept campaign contributions from federally registered lobbyists.
"Why don’t we start today reforming the Democrat Party by all of us admitting no more from this day forward, not a dime from the Washington lobbyists," Edwards said Saturday at the YearlyKos forum, an annual gathering for liberal bloggers. "We do not do business with these insiders."
But at the forum, which was also held in Chicago, Clinton defended her decision to accept lobbyists’ money and said she had no plans to change her practice.
"A lot of those lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans," Clinton said to a smattering of cheers and boos. "The idea that somehow a contribution is going to influence you, I just ask you to look at my record."
Clinton has raised more than $413,000 directly from registered lobbyists and their immediate family members — by far the most of any presidential candidate, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. She also has 10 federal lobbyists serving as "Hillraisers" — supporters who are committed to raising at least $100,000 apiece for her campaign.
The center’s figures show Obama having raised $60,000 from lobbyists’ families, and Edwards bringing in about $10,000. Both campaigns say they return all contributions they learn come directly from federally registered lobbyists, though Obama has faced scrutiny for accepting contributions from lobbyists registered to lobby the state of Illinois.
The Edwards and Obama campaigns have said they plan to use the labor forum in Chicago to continue to argue that Democratic candidates should reject money from lobbyists.
"We can’t change Washington without breaking the influence of the special interests," said Bill Burton, an Obama spokesman.
Sen. DeMint: GOP Race Could Go Until Convention 
Obama Avoids Questions on Contraception Rule
Seriously , does anyone out there still BELIEVE that the Democrat “front runners” are ANY DIFFERENT than the current administration when it comes to the war, and MORE WAR ?
Posted by: Frank T. | August 7, 2007, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
There’s no difference between the parties to speak of. In addition Hilary coming out in support of Unions is a joke as she hasn’t had the courage to ue the word at all. They’re all liars and opportunists in search of self glorification and power. A vote for the Democrats or the Republicans is a vote for the status quo and we can no longer afford the status quo. THIRD PARTY NOW!!!
Posted by: geddesman | August 7, 2007, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm
The main reason for the media coverup on Ron Paul popularity is that he’s standing against the established war machine. Which both Republican and Democrat front runners support.
Posted by: Mr. B | August 7, 2007, 5:31 pm 5:31 pm
MORE WAR MONGERS *cough*
Posted by: Frank D. B. | August 7, 2007, 5:46 pm 5:46 pm
Wow, barack Obama just dodged the vote question. My my, is her nervous?
Posted by: amdar4 | August 7, 2007, 7:50 pm 7:50 pm
Hillary, seriously, going from a labor forum to a lobbyist fundraiser for her? That’s pathetic. If this woman wants to lead, she should start by leading the Democratic party into being the party of lobby-free campaigns. GO OBAMA!
Posted by: Cat | August 7, 2007, 8:59 pm 8:59 pm
I think ABC would do us all a favor to censor the Paul spammers, at least when he nothing to do with the story. I can’t wait until he loses the primary so I don’t have to read the same posts over and over by the same people all time. I’m starting to get bored with it because it’s always a copy/paste out of his site over and over. Don’t they have anything new or different to say about him ever?
Posted by: Cat | August 8, 2007, 12:40 am 12:40 am
She will woo anyone with money to donate to her campaign.
Talk about your “special interests” candidate!
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | August 8, 2007, 1:32 pm 1:32 pm
Bill Clinton and Al Gore destroyed the Democratic Party by driving it into the center/Republican light for their own self glorification and enrichment (Look the astounding wealth those two frauds have raked in from Corporate America since leaving the White House!)and anybody that doesn’t know that is ignorant or has blinders on. Bill Clinton will go down in history as the politician who rendered the Democratic party meaningless. Make no mistake about it Hilary is the second coming of Bill! The only politician of that era who was accurate about what Corporate America’s plans for the rest of us was Ross Perot. Remember how he warned about the serious consequences of NAFTA and the horrible effect it was going to have on the middle class, well look around people. A vote for the Republicans or the Democrats is a vote for the status quo and we can no longer afford the status quo. We need to send a clear message to Washington that the party is over and the only way to do that is to vote for a Third Party candidate no matter who it is! Run Mayor Bloomberg and bring Ralph Nader in as your VP!!!
Posted by: geddesman | August 8, 2007, 8:32 pm 8:32 pm