McCain’s “Base” Comprised of Lobbyists

Kobe gets an email:

Fellow McCainiacs,

We’ve been proud to work for and support John McCain since his first presidential run in 1999. Our friends and neighbors are well aware of our support, and today, we are able to publicly show that we want John McCain to be our next president in a unique way – a personalized banner.

For the first time in this campaign, you can order your very own personalized 3′ by 6′ banner to hang at your home, office or even your local party headquarters. As you can see from the picture, ours says "Donatelli’s for McCain." These banners can be personalized with your name or the name of any group you belong to, showing support for John McCain.

This opportunity is being offered exclusively to our online community for a limited time. With your donation today of $250, you will receive your very own personalized banner to display proudly at your home or office. Please follow this link to order your banner right away.

We believe that John McCain is the best and most experienced candidate for president – he is ready to lead from Day One. We want to take advantage of every opportunity to publicly affirm our support, and this banner offers an opportunity to be used at house parties, fundraisers, tailgates, neighborhood picnics, college dorm rooms, local party headquarters and more.

Again, this offer is only available to our online community at this time, so please take advantage of this exclusive opportunity by following this link to place your order today! We hope you order your banner and we truly appreciate your support for John McCain, our next President of the United States!

Sincerely,
Frank and Becki Donatelli

P.S. This banner is perfect to take along on your next vacation, to display from your cabin, beach house rental or hotel balcony. Follow this link to order your personalized banner right away. Thank you!

Several things worthy of note here:

1) Kobe prefers it when Howard Dean sends him emails that say "Dear Kobe." He thinks "McCaniac" is a bit presumptuous and lacks dignity.

2) Online fundraising must be a bit sluggish. Personalized yard signs? This is their internet strategy? Who’s advising them about the toobz, Ted Stevens?

3) They may be missing their target audience. The personalized banner seems less like something one would hang from the balcony of one’s vacation home and more like something one slings over the refrigerator on one’s front porch.

3) Frank Donatelli, you’re kidding me, right?

McCain Tapped Lobbyist Frank Donatelli To Run His Efforts At RNC. McCain tapped lobbyist Frank Donatelli to become deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee. The New York Times reported Donatelli will “act as the main liaison between the committee and the McCain campaign.” Donatelli is a lobbyist at McGuire Woods and previously served as a lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. His clients have included AT&T, Exxon Mobil, PhRMA, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Verizon. [New York Times, 3/7/08; McGuire Woods, accessed 5/12/08; Senate Lobbying Disclosure Records, accessed 5/12/08]

McCain installed Donatelli so he could run a shadow campaign through the RNC. There’s a strong chance McCain will opt for public financing, take the $84 million that comes with it (hence the deep sixing of Von Spakovsky and David Mason on the FEC) and then skirt campaign finance limitations by running donations through the RNC.

We knew the lobbyist purge was window dressing, but did they really have to advertise it?

Update: Veteran FDLer Matt Ortega at the DNC has more.

Related posts:

1. McCain Rediscovers His Passion for Screwing Us with Bad Telecom Policy
2. CBS, Other Journalists Ignore Health Care Protest’s Ties to Lobbyists, GOP Talkshops, Rightwing Money
3. Frank Rich: McCain Was Wrong On Everything. CNN Treats Him As Sage
4. A Very Odd Letter from Democrats and Telecom Lobbyists on Net Neutrality
5. CIA Torture Briefings: McCain Owes Pelosi an Apology