Rivals Obama and McCain work together behind scenes

Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are quietly working together on a good-government bill despite their campaign-trail battle over who is tougher against Washington’s special interests.

McCain’s Senate office contacted Obama’s office Monday night asking to sign on to a bill opening federal government contracts to public scrutiny, according to three knowledgeable sources.

{mosads}Before the call, Obama had been working on the measure primarily with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an ardent proponent of eliminating wasteful government spending and an early supporter and longtime Senate ally of McCain’s.

After learning that Obama and Coburn were introducing the bill without his backing, McCain’s staffers immediately contacted Coburn to express concern and a desire to be named as an original co-sponsor of the update. They then called Obama’s office.

Obama staffers were happy to comply with McCain’s request to sign on, an Obama adviser said, because they knew support from the two presumptive nominees could propel the legislation to passage in the final months of a packed legislative schedule.

McCain’s Senate office and campaign did not return calls for comment on the matter. Coburn, however, acknowledged that the request had occurred and blamed himself for not being more aggressive in contacting McCain about becoming an original co-sponsor when the bill was introduced.

Coburn said it was his fault that McCain was not involved in developing the bill. “I didn’t keep him informed,” Coburn remarked. “I’m not good at politics—I never have been.”

The back and forth between the Obama and McCain offices illustrates the importance of good government issues to both presidential contenders, who have each tried to portray themselves as crusaders against Washington lobbyists and special interests.

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a co-sponsor of the bill, hailed the two White House contenders’ ability to put politics aside and cooperate on a good-government bill.

{mospagebreak}“There’s probably a lot of issues that Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain disagree on, but there are important things that they agree on and this is one of them,” Carper said. “If there is a contest on who is going to be the king of transparency, that’s a good development.”

Carper, who endorsed Obama Wednesday, gave Obama credit in the short term and McCain his due over the long haul. “Barack probably has an edge for the last five years, and McCain may have a better record over the last 20 years,” he said.

{mosads}The new bill will increase the transparency of federal contracts by posting them online. Previously, only descriptions of the contracts have been available.

The bill is intended to approve an earlier measure, informally known as the “Google for Government” act, backed by Obama, McCain, Coburn and Carper in 2006. That measure created a website — USASpending.gov – that allows the public to track down details on “all entities and organizations” receiving federal money.

Government watchdog groups across the political spectrum hailed that “sunshine law” and it sailed through Congress.

The new bill would beef up the website by requiring the actual contracts to be posted as well as new details , including whether the contract occurred under competitive bidding or whether it was the product of an earmark.

Coburn said McCain has been one of the measure’s key supporters since the initial bill was written. Other Senate staffers familiar with the earlier bill said the real work on it was done by Coburn’s and Obama’s offices without McCain, but that both sides were happy to have McCain’s support for the new bill.

The strange-bedfellow alliance between Coburn and Obama has continued despite a comment Obama made in an April Democratic debate comparing McCain’s friendship with Coburn to Obama’s relationship with a former member of the Weather Underground, a radical terrorist group in the 1960s.

Coburn said Obama called to apologize the evening of the debate, and said the remark had no impact on their working relationship.

Both Obama’s and McCain’s campaigns did not respond to a request about whether their bosses would issue an executive order making all federal contracts available online if the bill fails to pass before the session ends.

Gerry Bass, the executive director of OMBWatch, one of the 19 watchdog groups backing the measure, said it’s clear that Obama took the lead on the transparency bill this year but McCain should get credit for signing onto it.

“It’s a tribute to both of them,” he said. “Obama walks the words he says on the campaign trail by doing things differently. He didn’t have to have on McCain as a co-sponsor. The same can be said about McCain. McCain deserves credit, even though he may not have been involved in the crafting of the bill, he deserves credit for jumping on board.”