Monday, May 19, 2008

BARACK OBAMA, JOHN MCCAIN

Obama's Adviser Craig, Representing Panamanian Indicted For Murdering U.S. Army Sergeant

The Washington Post runs a front-page story today on a series McCain campaign staffers and advisers leaving their roles with the campaign over ties to lobbying firms and p.r. firms with unpopular clients.

As Jen Rubin notes, plenty of Obama aides and advisers have similarly uncomfortable ties, but the initial reaction from Team Obama is always that there's no issue there because the staffer isn't paid, or the advisory role is small. The relationship is always less than past press releases and articles would suggest, they insist. And none of it really matters, or is worth voter concern.

All of this sets up a fog of unaccountability and makes it virtually impossible to determine whether conflicts of interest exist, and more importantly who has the ear of the presumptive nominee. So much for a new era of transparency.

As Michelle Obama would say, discussing these issues doesn't help her kids, so stop bringing them up.

(Beyond that, who worries you more, a McCain staffer who did PR work for the Burmese Junta (talk about mission impossible; good luck with making those thugs seem loveable, pal) or Obama's Middle East policy adviser meeting with Hamas?)

ABC's Jake Tapper, today:

Greg Craig, a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama, is a partner at the big-shot DC law firm Williams & Connolly. There Craig represents Pedro Miguel González.

González is president of the Panamanian Legislature and is also under indictment in the U.S. for murdering U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernández in 1992.

There's a big difference between a lobbyist, who is paid to interact with lawmakers such as Mr. Obama, and a lawyer, who works with the courts. But in this situation, González's indictment has complicated passage of the U.S.-Panama Free Trade Agreement. So there is legislative relevance.

In January, the Dallas Morning News called for Craig to choose between defending González and working for Obama.

Hey, Jake, why are you bringing this up? This conversation doesn't help Michelle Obama's kids.

05/19 11:15 AMShare