WASHINGTON — Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Barack Obama has relied on prominent supporters who are active in the lobbying industry to raise millions for his re-election bid.
At least 15 of Obama’s “bundlers” - supporters who contribute their own money to his campaign and solicit it from others - are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies. They have raised more than $5 million so far for the campaign.
Because the bundlers are not registered as lobbyists with the Senate, the Obama campaign has not run afoul of its self-imposed ban on taking money from lobbyists.
But registered or not, the bundlers are in many ways indistinguishable from people who fit the technical definition of a lobbyist. They glide easily through the corridors of power in Washington, with a number of them hosting Obama at fundraisers while also visiting the White House on policy matters and official business.
As both a candidate and as president, Obama has vowed to curb what he calls the corrupting influence of lobbyists, barring them not only from contributing to his campaign but also from holding jobs in his administration. While lobbyists grouse about the rules, ethics advocates credit the changes with raising ethical standards in Washington.
But the prevalence of major Obama fundraisers who also work in the lobbying arena threatens to undercut the president’s ethics push, raising questions about whether the campaign’s policies square with its on-the-ground practices, some of those same advocates say.
“It’s a legitimate concern,” said Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonpartisan ethics group in Washington. “The campaign has to draw the line somewhere, but the reality is that the president is still relying on wealthy special interests and embracing those people in his campaign.”
Take Sally Susman. An executive at the drugmaker Pfizer, she has raised more than $500,000 for the president’s re-election and helped organize a $35,800-a-ticket dinner that Obama attended in New York in June. At the same time, she leads Pfizer’slobbying shop and has visited the White House four times since 2009, twice on export issues.
But under the rules that govern federal lobbying, Susman has not registered with the Senate as a lobbyist.
Nor has David Cohen, who oversees lobbying at ComcastCorp. and is also a member of Obama’s exclusive $500,000 bundling club.
At a June fundraiser in the backyard of his Philadelphia home, Cohen hosted the president and some 120 guests who paid at least $10,000 each to attend; Obama called Cohen and his wife “great friends.”
As a matter of policy, Obama’s re-election campaign goes beyond what campaign law requires by refusing contributions from any “individual registered as a federal lobbyist.” Registered lobbyists are not even allowed inside his fundraising events, and the campaign routinely returns checks from those trying to contribute.
Republican candidates, in contrast, have placed no restrictions on accepting lobbyists’ money. Mitt Romney had a private fundraiser this week in Washington at the American Trucking Associations that was expected to include many K Street lobbyists.
The Obama campaign, which raised nearly $43 million last quarter, would not specifically discuss its fundraisers who work in lobbying.Most of the bundlers themselves also declined to comment, referring questions to the campaign. Through interviews and public records, The New York Times identified at least 15 major fundraisers for the Obama campaign who have been involved in different aspects of the lobbying and influence industry, representing a range of corporate interests from telecommunications and high-tech software to Wall Street finance, international commerce and pharmaceuticals.
While none of the bundlers is currently registered as a federal lobbyist, at least four have been in the past. And a number of the bundlers work for prominent lobbying and law firms, including Greenberg Traurig and Blank Rome.
Information for this article was contributed by Barclay Walsh of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 10/29/2011