# of days that we have left to learn whether she’s qualified to lead the U.S. in the event of a crisis: 40

The good stuff starts around 6:30, but if you have time, watch the whole thing.

Today, we tackle lobbyists.  Both camps have substantial ties to lobbyists in one way or another. They’re politicians. It’s Washington. It’s virtually impossible not to. But given recent events, ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae seem to be the supreme indicator of a candidate’s potential corruptibility (I know…whatever.)  Given that both candidates have Fannie and Freddie lobbyists working for, or with them, let’s take a closer look at the most egregious claim bandying about the media and the blogosphere. 

Sen. Barack Obama is the second highest receipient of campaign contributions from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ($126,349).

Yes, Sen. Obama received $126,349 from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What does every biased report leave out? Total Contributions to Obama from Fannie and Freddie PACs = $6,000. Total Contributions from Individual Employees = $120,349.

Now lets take a closer look at contributions to both candidates from Directors of the of the Freddie and Fannie Boards (People like Geoffrey Boisi, Alfonse D’Amato and the like.) Total contributions to John McCain = $169,900. Total contributions to Barack Obama = $16,000. [Source NY Times]

Nineteen McCain advisers and fundraisers lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

McCain Senior Adviser Wayne Berman Continues to Lobby for Fannie Mae. Wayne Berman has lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2004 through the 2nd quarter of 2008. Their firm earned over $100,000 from Freddie Mac in 2004 and over $1 million from Fannie Mae. [Senate Lobbying Disclosures]

Six of McCain’s advisers and fundraisers lobbied for Freddie Mac including:

·         McCain’s Current Chief of Staff Mark Buse,

·         top McCain adviser Charles Black,

·         Carlos Bonilla,

·         Al D’Amato,

·         Juleanna Glover Weiss

·         Susan Molinari.

Thirteen of them lobbied for Fannie Mae including:

·         McCain’s Congressional Liaison John Green,

·         Head of VP Search Team AB Culvahouse,

·         Wayne Berman,

·         Kirk Blalock,

·         Alberto Cardenas,

·         Kirsten Chadwick,

·         Richard Holht,

·         Kate Hull,

·         Aleix Jarvis,

·         Tom Loeffler,

·         Peter Madigan,

·         Allison McSlarrow

·         Aquiles Suarez.

What’s striking to me is the magnitude of the difference. Both of the candidates have several hours of really excellent speeches on YouTube, with only a few hundred views apiece, while Matt Damon’s one off comments just passed 1.3 million…

All of which is to say, Senator Obama’s comments re: the economic crisis this morning were, IMO, really excellent – and deserve 5 minutes of your time if you care about the future of this country. Please watch:

All of which makes the Palin choice even more reckless than would ordinarily be the case. Russian roulette, as I’ve observed previously. And if that doesn’t scare the hell out of you, you’re not paying attention.

(by johnzep over at 538. he apologized for the “Windows Movie Maker production values” – but I think it’s pretty good. check it out.)

# of days that we have left to learn whether she’s qualified to lead the U.S. in the event of a crisis: 49