Lobby Reform Holds Risks for Obama, McCain

Obama may also face some backlash in the campaign for his past alliances in the rough and tumble world of Chicago politics. This week, a former supporter of his, Tony Rezko, was convicted on 16 out of 24 charges involving corruption and influence-peddling. Rezko had been more closely tied to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich than Obama, but the Obama campaign clearly had concerns over the connection. In an effort to counteract the poor publicity of any ties to Rezko, Obama's campaign has donated more than $150,000 to charity, or the approximate equivalent to what the candidate has received from Rezko over the years,.

Nevertheless, Obama has convinced the Democratic Party to make a similar pledge of not taking money from lobbyists. Democratic Party Chair Howard Dean said this week:

"Our presumptive nominee has pledged not to take donations from Washington lobbyists and from today going forward the DNC makes that pledge as well. ... The American people's priorities will set the agenda in an Obama Administration, not the special interests."

The Democrats bet big on working a small donor base in the election to lead them to victory.

The financial support from small donors has been so amazing that many expect Obama could break his pledge to take public financing, a promise which he had issued last year before his advantage became clear. Choosing to do so would pose a risk. Going back on a pledge in order to limit financing represents a flip-flop on an important issue. If he chose to take public financing, his campaign would likely spin it, however, arguing the number of individual donors amounts to financing by the "people."

What McCain Faces

McCain has refused to cede the issue of reform to the Democratic nominee. He had expressed interest in challenging Obama to accept public financing for the campaign. Given that McCain has lagged in fundraising, it's an easy way to gain political advantage and take away a strength from Obama.