Who's more Special?

With an eye on recent polls, the White House abandoned its previous strategy, and in a TV ad blitz last week it began to attack democrats before a nominee has been selected. The recent Republican attack ad states that Senator Kerry has taken "more special interest money than any other senator." Which needless to say, is an inaccurate description of Senator Kerry's financial support.

This article by Peter Beinart in the New Republic, attempts to set the record straight. Beinart differentiates between the special interests John Kerry is aligned with and the ones George W. Bush serves.

Here's just one of the interesting facts he states, "Bush has accepted more money from lobbyists in the last year than Kerry has in his entire 15 years in the Senate."

A Washington Post editorial states that, "Mr. Bush's acceptance of special-interest money and his subsequent rewards to the industries doing the giving dwarf anything in Mr. Kerry's record......And, since Mr. Bush brought it up, it's worth remembering that Mr. Kerry actually has some bona fides in the area of campaign finance ethics. He swore off checks from political action committees during his Senate races. He supported the McCain-Feingold legislation to end big soft-money checks to political parties -- which Mr. Bush's party did its best to kill and which the president only reluctantly signed. While the Bush administration fights to keep secret the activities of its energy task force, Mr. Kerry has promised to release the records of his meetings with lobbyists during his time in office."

So who's captive to the Special Interests?

I report you decide.