Obama pokes McCain with lobbying bill

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has signed on to a bill that would target firms' lobbying activities abroad, a subtle jab at the campaign manager of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), Democrats said Thursday.

Rick Davis, campaign manager for McCain, co-owns Davis Manafort Inc., which has lobbied on behalf of Viktor Yanukovich, a Ukranian politician. The firm did not register as a lobbyist even though Davis's business partner had lobbied the U.S. ambassador on behalf of its Ukranian client. Davis has been on leave from the firm since the end of 2006.

{mosads}The bill, introduced Thursday by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), would close the exemption that does not require lobbyists to register with the Justice Department if a meeting happened on foreign soil, a Democratic aide said. Schumer said Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, signed on Thursday as a co-sponsor and that Democrats were still determining strategy for moving the bill.

Schumer said the bill is not a shot at the McCain campaign, saying it came about in his work reviewing the lobbying activities of the Iraqi government.

The move appears to be the latest in a string of partisan attacks about each campaign's ties to lobbyists, as both have vowed to clean up Washington and its relationships with special interests. It also comes a day after Jim Johnson resigned from Obama's vice-presidential vetting committee because of his business deals and low-interest mortgages he received. The New York Times reported Thursday that McCain might have been aware of Davis's firm's lobbying activities for years.

The new bill also shows how both sides plan to use legislation to reinforce their campaign arguments.

Obama is an original cosponsor of the legislation.

“It is unacceptable that lobbyists can exploit a loophole to hide their lobbying contacts on behalf of foreign businesses and governments. The American people have a right to know who these individuals are representing and which American officials they're lobbying,” Obama said. “Abusing the law to hide access and special treatment is exactly the kind of Washington culture that working Americans are tired of and the culture that I've been fighting against. I am proud to stand with Senators Schumer and McCaskill to fight for greater transparency and accountability.”

McCain's campaign did not respond to an inquiry seeking comment.