McCain Adviser Ousted In Conflict Uproar

Politico: Campaign Also Releases New Conflict Of Interest Policy

(The Politico)  This story was written by Ben Smith.

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John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates. The campaign also released a new conflict of interest policy barring such arrangements.

Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns. He is not currently on the McCain campaign’s payroll, but would also step down from his role on McCain’s Virginia Leadership Team, a McCain spokesman, Brian Rogers, said.

"If you're working for a 527 involved in the presidential race, you won't have a named role in our campaign,” said Rogers.

Under the new policy, a copy of which was provided to Politico, “no person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate.” 

Shirley’s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work. 

Shirley said Stop Her Now wasn’t the sort of group airing hard-hitting, factually questionable attack-ads that have given 527s a bad name, but rather a “lighthearted” effort.

“This is not the nether regions of 527s,” he said.

But his background is in some of the hardest hitting Republican attacks on Democratic presidents and presidential hopefuls.

He was reportedly a member of the team that tarred Michael Dukakis with the “Willie Horton” ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a move attacking John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, “Stolen Honor.”

In a recent editorial, Stop Her Now’s main backer, Richard Collins, explained his recent move to change his group’s name to “Stop Him Now” and devote it to attacking Obama. Collins attacked Obama’s “full-throated liberalism” and his ties to the “corrupt politics of Chicago.”

“Obama’s style may be different but his radical agenda is just as dangerous” as Clinton’s, he wrote.

Shirley’s firm registered the domain name stop-him-now.com in March; it redirects browsers to the Stop Her Now site.

The group maintains a website that ran animated parodies of Clinton, and now parodies Obama, recently imagining a visit by Rev. Jeremiah Wright to the Obama White House. Shirley’s work was to promote the website and spread the word about its other promotional activities, including airplanes trailing “Stop Her Now” banners over Democratic presidential debates.

One recent anti-Obama cartoon features an Oval Office exchange between President Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, whom Obama summons as his “spiritual advisor.”

“How may I serve you my brother?” asks the animated Wright.

“Is love black and white?” asks the fictional Obama.

“No - it is black,” shrieks Wright.

“Really?” asks Obama.

“Goddam right,” the minister replies.

"That's what I'd thought you'd say," says a reassured Obama.

Campaign finance experts expressed surprise that a McCain consultant would moonlight for a 527, a dual role that could trigger inquiries from the Federal Elections Commission.

“It doesn’t mean conclusively that the activity was coordinated but it raises a facial issueregarding coordination,” said Kenneth Gross, a Democratic campaign finance lawyer at Skadden, Arps. “It’s certainly possibly that things fly under the radar screen and I don’t want to be too harsh, but it’s certainly something the campaign should be on the lookout for.

Rogers said the campaign had not been aware of Shirley’s role.

Both Shirley and the campaign denied the campaign and the 527 coordinated activities, and there’s no evidence that they did.

“When you involve the same people there’s at least the risk that coordination will be found,” said Rick Hasen, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in election law issues. “The question is why a campaign would want to run that risk -- especially a campaign like McCain’s or Obama’s that tries to put itself out there as supporting campaign finance reform and opposing 527s.”

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis moved to avoid a recurrence of the situation with his conflict of interest policy, released late yesterday. It also sought to stem the impression that McCain’s campaign is run by lobbyists - a characterization Democrats have tried to make since it was reported that a senior advisor, Charlie Black, made lobbying calls from McCain’s signature bus, the Straight Talk Express. Davis himself is currently on leave from his lobbying and consulting firm, and the campaign removed two other officials this week for work they’d done on behalf of Burmese junta.

Davis’s directive has five points:

-That McCain aides may not be registered lobbyists or foreign agents, or make money from those practices.

-That volunteers must disclose their status as lobbyists or foreign agents, and may not participate in making policy on the areas they lobby, or lobby McCain or his staff.

-That “no person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate.”

-No McCain campaign vendor may work with a 527 or independent group without a pre-approved legal “firewall.”

-As McCain has said before, “anyone serving in a McCain Administration must commit not to lobby the Administration during his presidency.”

The memo establishes a new vetting process, requiring campaign aides to fill out a questionnaire on their status, and to turn in proof that they’ve terminated outside contracts over to the campaign legal department.

[msswin]

This isn''t change, just more of the McSame

http://www.changeyoudeserve.wordpress.com

[riptide213]

Thank you Senator McCain for being a decision maker who after talking the talk is now willing to take the first steps in walking the walk. I%u2019m obliged to give him full credit for a rousing refocus to help keep citizens and voters on target to demand all candidates open up and take steps toward better public scrutiny in politics. Already a party nominee McCain could have misdirected our attention elsewhere, but he didn%u2019t.

Public scrutiny in all things political must be the new political correctness battle cry craze to sweep this nation. Change can only happen from candidates or incumbents who are in the game.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly balance in politics has been deplorably tilting towards the later two depraved traits. Any small nugget of good gold dust on scale of integrity to counterbalance transgressions of lobbyist influence is welcome. I yearn its not fools gold.

Intrigue and desirability of any candidate from any party that executes actions vs words toward invigorating a lobbyist purge is to the point.

Paid professional career lobbyists are eroding and weakening the by now fading influence of voters and ordinary citizens.

Any action by any candidate from any party who takes on the responsibility of holding anyone to account and by putting into practice any ethics code is worthy of praise for the greater political good which transcends all parties.

Sanctioned by scrupulous voters everywhere; let the lobbyist witch hunts commence.

[blkpresident]

Pretty soon old man McCain will know whose his DADDY. His days of ducking and hiding from the Obama Shuffle will soon be over, after we dispatch lil'' missy back home to her kitchen stove in NY we will steamroll his old *** too. Scared old man? Better be chump.

[riptide213]

I applaud Senator McCain for any effort to have an ethics mandate and deal with lobbyists within his campaign staff.

May this code of behavior for enhanced ethics hullabaloo spread to all candidates regardless of party, apply at all times and all levels of their incoming administration.

Crux of most political mishaps seems to linger around simple straightforward honesty. Taxpayers deserve nothing less than a government operated by candor not slander.

Lobbying is not a new phenomenon in politics.

Voluntary grassroots lobbying by members of the general public to communicate their own views on an issue to elected officials or to encourage other members of the general public to do the same is a healthy expression of a working democracy. Please participate.

However the scale and aggressive nature of professional lobbying in todays politics is one of the identifiable toxins poisoning our entire political system. All candidates please resist the alluring power of the lobbyists ring. Please banish these public purse parasites and fumigate the government.

The proliferation and misery of paid career lobbyists is spreading like venom.

Total Lobbying Spending.

1998 $1.45 Billion
1999 $1.44 Billion
2000 $1.54 Billion
2001 $1.63 Billion
2002 $1.81 Billion
2003 $2.04 Billion
2004 $2.17 Billion
2005 $2.41 Billion
2006 $2.60 Billion
2007 $2.80 Billion
2008 $0.70 Billion

Source. Center for Responsive Politics

http://www.opensecrets.org

[david1737]

eatmochickn

It''s amazing that you can type with that white hood on your head.

[david1737]

We as a country simply can''t afford another 4 years of corrupt Republicans in office.

[david1737]

We as a country simply can''t afford another 4 years of corrupt Republicans in office.

[david1737]

McCain isn''t Able!

McCain isn''t Able!

McCain isn''t Able!

[david1737]

Shirley%u2019s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work.

[oneshot_damm]

So what part of this is a conflict of interest? The only problem I see is if the 527 engages in dirty tricks, then mccain would want plausible deniablity. He is far too weak of a republican to engage in his own barefisted campaign, so he needs all the help he can get...
Maybe if he picked Gingrich or Bolton for vice...
Nah, never happen.
its going to be a long 4 years no matter what.

[broncfan1661]

homespunlady ,
I think someone spun you too much. You sure are a dizzy dame.

[homespunlady]

OH, I "forgot" the NEOCONS and JOHN says IT''S his wife CINDY''S FAULT!!!!
LEAVE "THE POOR GIRL" (100 MILLION DOLLARS POOR) ALONE!!!!
OOPS shouldn''t say "girl" or 2nd wife - sounds like those polygamist people and NEOCONS get nervous about break away Mormon "cults".

Investing in a GENOCIDAL country is a "good investment" and "excusable" to the NEOCONS!!

Just look at all the INNOCENT women and children King George has taken HIS REVENGE on for that nasty Saddam INSULTING his daddy!

Get her a puppetmaster to go along with the ones managing her husband.

[homespunlady]

Anybody collecting the NEW book of NEOCON LEADER "misspokes" and LIES yet?
Since it''s so bad that all I can do is laugh at the IRONY of what they''ve done -
I''ve thoroughly enjoyed the BUSH QUOTE books, countdown calendars, etc.

PLEASE!!! things like this are JUST RIPE for some REAL HUMOR!

My favorite quote from above is this part of their LATEST OOPSIE DIRECTIVE:

-No McCain campaign vendor may work with a 527 or independent group without a pre-approved legal %u201Cfirewall.%u201D

HAHAHAHAHA LOVE IT!!!

"PRE-APPROVED LEGAL FIREWALL"!!! HAHAHAHAHA

Sounds like their "OOPSIE" WE DIDN''T CHECK like ALL THE OTHER CANDIDATES did a YEAR AGO so DON''T BLAME US for having TWO MILLION DOLLARS invested in GENOCIDAL SUDAN - and besides, it''s RUDE to ask HOW MUCH PROFIT we made by "NOT NOTICING"!

[abmitus]

What really happened was McShortarms got mad at this dude if a fit of rage and could not hit him with those little short arms so he told him to leave.

[harp1963]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

[sjc_1]

They are going to count on 527s to swift boat Obama. They will need all the evil spinners that they can get for that.

[sgtrds-e4]

Legalize?

Legalese.

Durn speel chequer....

[sgtrds-e4]

"If you''''re working for a 527 involved in the presidential race, you won''''t have a named role in our campaign,%u201D said Rogers.

Okay, so its okay as long as they are not "named". What exactly does that mean? Should it not be you won''''t have a role (at all....)...

Posted by Paulstewart9 at 10:53 PM : May 16, 2008

Legalize for they''ll have a backdoor, under the table role the whole time.

[tawpdawg11]

About Shirley: "But his background is in some of the hardest hitting Republican attacks on Democratic presidents and presidential hopefuls.

He was reportedly a member of the team that tarred Michael Dukakis with the %u201CWillie Horton%u201D ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a move attacking John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, %u201CStolen Honor.%u201D

And then McBush''s man:____ Rogers said the campaign had not been aware of Shirley%u2019s role.

Both Shirley and the campaign denied the campaign and the 527 coordinated activities, and there%u2019s no evidence that they did.


"We had NOP IDEA he was the biggest professional mudslinger in the business"....Yeah....right.


Gosh it sounds like McBush is just as ignorant of what is going on around him as his other brother McBush.

[paulstewart9]

"If you''re working for a 527 involved in the presidential race, you won''t have a named role in our campaign,%u201D said Rogers.

Okay, so its okay as long as they are not "named". What exactly does that mean? Should it not be you won''t have a role (at all....)...