Lobby Reform Holds Risks for Obama, McCain

Think corporate influence controls the agenda in Washington? Both presidential candidates -- Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) and Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) -- have railed against government for sale and favor lobby reform.

But can the candidates really curb influence-peddling from business, and could their declamations help propel one of them to the White House?

Federal elections law prohibits corporations from donating money directly to candidates, but employees of those candidates remain free to do so. Enter lobbyists and bundlers -- powerful, well-connected people who can raise a great deal of money by influencing and rallying colleagues and others to donate to a cause.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the amount of money in the presidential elections that comes from businesses already totals close to $300 million -- much of it raised by bundlers. The financial industry leads all others -- including insurance and real estate -- in the amount of money donated to election campaigns, and Obama has outraised McCain in this sector by $19 million to $12 million.

What Obama Faces

In relative terms, Obama has a short political record. He served eight years in the Illinois State Senate and three-and-a-half years in the U.S. Senate. His record includes ethics reform in both of those legislative bodies. The U.S. Senate legislation forced politicians to name lobbyists who bundle for them. He has campaigned on changing the way Washington works, in particular making an effort to decrease the influence of corporate money and lobbyists.

Obama claims to have no lobbyists working on his campaign, though he has many former lobbyists working for him and an army of bundlers. One example would be his chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod. Axelrod formerly worked as a lobbyist for Exelon (EXC Quote), an energy company based in Illinois that is a leader in advocating for nuclear energy. Employees of Exelon have strongly backed Obama, donating more than $200,000 to his presidential campaign.