Campaign 2008: Lobbyists and Think Tanks

It's an evil drug that Washington has injected into its veins and become addicted. After politics its seems your career is either at a think tank, or lobbying. McCain says his former lobbyists aren't the bad type, whatever that means.

FactCheck: Obama Ad Misidentifies McCain 'Lobbyists'

It is interesting that in all the scramble to get right with the electorate, Hunter, Joe Biden's son, just quit from his lobbyist job today. Trying to fight perceptions, I guess. Or, maybe positioning the campaign to be able to better target the other without appearing the hypocrite.

Here is an article that lists many of the players, The War of the Wonks and a list from the Connect U.S. Fund. They also have a list for McCain.

I've noticed a few tendencies in Barack's advisers, they tend to be former Clinton era politico's, or professors from Harvard/Chicago, or from The Brooking's Institution, or Center for American Progress. Also, strangely many of these names are found as advisers for America Abroad Media.

Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly that I've dug up on Barack's Advisers...

Susan Rice is on leave from the Brookings Institution, and is not a lobbyist. Formerly employed at Intellibridge. She was one of Bill Clinton's best.

Tom Daschle, while not a lobbyist, is married to Linda Hall Daschle, a lobbyist for Baker, Donelson, Bearman and Caldwell.

Denis McDonough,Foreign Policy Coordinator, briefs the candidate on all foreign affairs issues.
Center for American Progress Senior Fellow and former policy adviser to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.

James (Jim) Steinberg, Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and former Deputy National Security Advisor. Also involved in America Abroad Media.

Robert Malley, son of Simon Malley, left Obama's team after he had secret meetings with Hamas, now a member of CALME and part of the Soros team at the International Crisis Group.

Jim Johnson, was a lobbyist and disgraced mortgage executive who misstated Fannie Mae profits to get a bigger bonus.

Ben Rhodes was one of the lead staff writers for the Iraq Study Group (a Soros endeavor), (is the brother of David Rhodes, Fox News' vice president of news)

Gregory B. Craig, State Department director of policy planning under President Clinton and now a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, was a lobbyist for the Haitian Mevs brothers.

Anthony Lake, a Clinton era NSA, was almost Director of the CIA but withdrew his nomination, then later was was investigated for his relationship to Pauline Kanchanalak. He is co-founder(with David Rothkopf) of Intellibridge.

Jeremy Rosner, is executive vice president at the consulting firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a public opinion research and strategy firm. In the US it caters to Democrats, and corporations.

Samantha Powers, who quit the Obama campaign after calling Hillary a monster, Cass Sunstein, her new husband is still an Obama adviser.

Cass Sunstein, University of Chicago law professor. Sunstein is currently the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. One of the best lawyers in the US.

Austan Goolsbee is currently the Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He's part of a new wave called "new social economics". A very respectable fellow indeed.

Amb. Jeffrey Bader, Former President Clinton’s National Security Council Asia specialist and now head of Brooking's China center.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security adviser and now a Center for Strategic and International Studies counselor and trustee. Also, somewhat controversial guy.

Daniel B. Shapiro, National Security Council director for legislative affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a lobbyist with Timmons & Company

Richard A. Clarke, President Clinton and President George W. Bush’s counter terrorism czar and now head of Good Harbor Consulting and an ABC News contributor, and mostly known as the guy asleep at the wheel for 9-11 who wrote a book blaming it all on Bush, but couldn't back it up.

Roger W. Cressey, former National Security Council counter terrorism staffer and now Good Harbor Consulting president and NBC News consultant

Eric Lynn, who was a senior legislative assistant to Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.), will also serve as Obama's adviser on Middle East policy.

Ivo H. Daalder, National Security Council director for European affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a Brooking's senior fellow, was a member of PNAC.

Richard Danzig, President Clinton’s Navy secretary and now a Center for Strategic and International Analysis fellow

Philip H. Gordon, President Clinton’s National Security Council staffer for Europe and now a Brookings senior fellow

Maj. Gen. J. (Jonathan) Scott Gration, a 32-year Air Force veteran and now CEO of Africa anti-poverty effort Millennium Villages,was raised by missionary parents in Democratic Republic of Congo and later Kenya and speaks fluent Swahili, who also accompanied Sen. Obama to Kenya when he was photographed in the traditional garb.

Lawrence J. Korb, assistant secretary of defense from 1981-1985 and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP, who's CEO is John Podesta, and is allegedly also funded by Soros, also wrote the report that spawned efforts to revive the "Fairness Doctrine").

James M. Ludes, former defense and foreign policy adviser to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and now executive director of the American Security Project.

Gen. Merrill A. ("Tony") McPeak, former Air Force chief of staff and now a business consultant, who's been around long enough to be controversial in many ways. He made no friends with the Clinton's during the campaign.

Denis McDonough, Center for American Progress senior fellow and former policy adviser to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (See L.J.Korb for CAP analysis).

Bruce O. Riedel, former CIA officer and National Security Council staffer for Near East and Asian affairs and now a Brookings senior fellow, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Dennis B. Ross, President Clinton’s Middle East negotiator and now a Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow

Sarah Sewall, deputy assistant secretary of defense for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance during President Clinton’s administration and now director of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

Mona Sutphen, former aide to President Clinton’s National Security adviser Samuel R. Berger and to United Nations ambassador Bill Richardson and now managing director of business consultancy Stonebridge

Also of interest; Newsweek, The Talent Primary