1115.org

From our Equal Time Dept., here’s Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, defending himself against a recent Newsweek story charging that he had essentially lobbied Chicago officials on behalf of his communications firm’s clients:

He called the piece a “red herring,” and contrasted his record with that of his counterpart in the McCain campaign, chief strategist Charlie Black, who Axelrod labeled “the most powerful corporate lobbyist in Washington.”

“I never lobbied anybody,” Axelrod said. “What I do is make ads and try to involve people in the process, people outside the halls of legislatures or city councils, to get involved in public issues. What lobbyists do is go behind closed doors and try to influence lawmakers sometimes with implied promises of support for their campaign and so on, It is fundamentally different. I have never lobbied a politician on behalf of a client in my life. And I certainly have never talked to Obama about any client. It is a red herring put up by a campaign that is being run by the most powerful corporate lobbyist in Washington in Charlie Black and being managed by a corporate lobbyist.”

That’s one way to describe creating a front group called Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity (CORE) for Illinois utility Commonwealth Edison. CORE ran ads warning of a “California-style energy crisis” if the state legislature didn’t approve rate increases for Commonwealth Edison. CORE did not disclose that Commonwealth Edison had funded the ads.

Apparently, seeking to influence politicians through dishonest or deceptive ads is morally superior to seeking to influence politicians through face-to-face lobbying.

The more things change, huh?