Bad News Barry

Edwards chided Hillary for appearing on a Fortune magazine cover ("Business Loves Hillary"), but guess who spoke to CEOs at a Fortune Global Forum in 2002?

After every debate, the pundits revise their scorecards. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder, with help from NBC's Chuck Todd, offers this ranking:

"Hillary Clinton: a day doesn't go by that she doesn't look like a stronger general election candidate, mainly because of how she's always got her eye on the general when answering debate questions like the one in question. No member of the C.W. chattering class believed she'd be this strong in general election matchups this early in the process. She seems more unbeatable every day, which is why you should expect both Obama and Edwards to stop mincing words and take near-daily shots at the front-runner. She's on such a roll right now, one can't help but wonder if she's peaking too soon.

"Barack Obama: The Clinton folks are convinced that the Obama campaign knows he made two gaffes in the last two weeks, but because they feared the 'inexperienced' tag might take hold, they had no choice but to stand their ground based on what he said. We'll never know who's right, but the Obama camp does deserve credit for not being shy about taking on the Georgetown set on issues of foreign affairs. Six months ago, we thought Obama was dying to win the Georgetown primary; now, clearly, he doesn't care.

"John Edwards -- Meet Mr. Angry! He's not going to take it any more! Edwards gets better every day in the role of angry populist, but we can't help but wonder if eventually his 'no more Mr. nice guy' routine is going to rub Iowa voters the wrong way. Edwards' strength in '04 was that everyone seemed to like the guy. Usually, voters don't like angry populists; they may respect them, but like? Not usually."

Hillary's rivals have been bashing her for taking money from lobbyists, but as Tom Edsall reports, that may be a distinction without much difference:

"Obama and Edwards, running second and third to Clinton respectively, have pinpointed one of the New York Senator's vulnerabilities. Anonymous opposition researchers (you can guess) have calculated that 261 federal lobbyists have given her campaign $479,130 so far this year. In addition, 15 lobbyists acting as contribution bundlers have raised at least $1.5 million for her.

"Edwards and Obama may not be taking contributions from federally registered lobbyists, but that does not mean that their money is as pure as they'd like us to believe.

"Edwards' 2004 campaign manager, Nick Baldick, who is currently a senior adviser to the 2008 campaign, is a founder of the Washington lobbying firm Avenue Solutions, which includes among its clients Aetna, Northwest Airlines, the Healthcare Leadership Council, Medco, Travelers Cos. Inc., and the Financial Services Roundtable.

"Baldick left the firm in 2006 to found Hilltop Public Solutions which, according to its website, has 'managed winning campaigns for clients that have included the nation's largest financial services firm, one of the nation's largest airlines, a major fast food retailer, the world's largest healthcare provider, and numerous additional industry leaders.' It generally performs these services at a state level and is not federally registered.

"At least three staffers on the Obama campaign were registered as federal lobbyists, although two worked for such pro-Democratic clients as the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the Environmental Defense Fund. The third, Emmett Beliveau, worked at Patton Boggs LLP, which includes among its clients Giner Electrochemical Systems, the Offshore Marine Service Association, ABT Associates, and Preferred Communications Systems.

"In addition, the campaign web site Opensecrets.org reports that Edwards has received $6.5 million from lawyers, many of them trial lawyers; $668,590 from employees in the investment banking industry; $254,297 from officials of the health care industry and $218,290 from operators of hedge funds.

"Obama has been no slouch in this territory, according to Opensecrets. Employees of investment banking firms gave him $3.2 million; real estate companies $1.3 million; health companies, $701,993; and hedge funds $652,105. Clinton's contributions fit much the same pattern."

What's more, says the Boston Globe, "A Globe review of Obama's campaign finance records shows that he collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists and PACs as a state legislator in Illinois, a US senator, and a presidential aspirant."

So much for being on a high horse.