While Senator Obama ordered the Democratic National Committee last week to stop taking donations from lobbyists, the co-chairman and lead fund-raiser for the host committee for the Denver convention, Steven Farber, is a lawyer and federally registered lobbyist with Brownstein Hyatt Farber & Schreck LLP, a firm with offices in Denver, Washington, and elsewhere.
“Not only that, they’re a donor,” an advocate of tighter regulation of political funding, Stephen Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute, said, pointing to the firm’s logo among several dozen “partners” on the host committee Web site.
“Barack Obama’s failure to meet his own standards concerning the special interests running his party and campaign demonstrates the weak leadership defining his candidacy,” a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, Daniel Diaz, said.
A spokesman for Mr. Obama, Thomas Vietor, said allies of Mr. McCain had no credibility on the issue because the senator from Arizona has counted dozens of lobbyists among the ranks of his senior campaign staff and fund-raisers even though he railed against what he called the “iron triangle of money, lobbyists, and legislation.”
Mr. Vietor said Mr. Obama has been candid that the donation ban he announced is not a cure-all. “It’s not a perfect solution or even a perfect symbol for the problem of lobbyist influence, but it’s a sign of his commitment and it’s certainly a strong contrast with Senator McCain’s campaign, which is paid for and run by Washington lobbyists.”
The Obama campaign also turned the tables on Mr. McCain and his aides for attacking a member of Mr. Obama’s vice presidential vetting team who once headed Fannie Mae, James Johnson, over his ties to a struggling subprime lending firm. Mr. Vietor noted that the Washington lawyer handling Mr. McCain’s vice presidential search, Arthur Culvahouse of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, is a former lobbyist and longtime Washington insider.

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