July 17, 2008

McCain's campaign manager lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

It seems that Rick Davis is one of many lobbyists who have benifited from the over $200 million the government-chartered mortgage brokers have spread around K Street over the past decade:

They’ve stacked their payrolls with top Washington power brokers of all political stripes, including Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign manager, Rick Davis; Democrat Barack Obama’s original vice presidential vetter, Jim Johnson; and scores of others now working for the two rivals for the White House.

Fannie and Freddie’s aggressive political maneuvering has helped stave off increased regulation and preserve special benefits such as exemption from state and local income taxes and the ability to borrow at low rates.
In light of this information, Rick Davis' transition to a more general role on the campaign on July 2 makes much more sense.  The reason given then by many was that under Davis' leadership, the campaign had no unifying theme.  The catch with that explanation is that it's hard to have a campaign center around a philosophy when the only guiding principle the candidate has is being a mavericky maverick.  With the mortgage giants crumbling, Davis needed to be shepherded away to a less prominent position, like that of VP vetter Arthur Culvahouse, Jr., who also worked for the companies. 

Posted by: It's Vintage, Duh at 03:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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