Obama’s Puerto Rican Campaign Co-Director Exposed as Government Lobbyist

In the run up to a busy weekend for Democrats, Obama is encountering a few obstacles. The self-described harbinger of the “new politics” and loud opponent of lobbyists is in trouble in Puerto Rico, Jeffrey Birnbaum reported in the Washington Post just minutes ago:

“The co-director of Barack Obama's presidential campaign in Puerto Rico is a Washington-based federal lobbyist for the government of Puerto Rico.”

Ah, but the Obama campaign has a ready excuse, explains Birmbaum:

“Ethics watchdogs said that the high-profile role of Francisco J. Pavía appears to contradict the Obama campaign's ethics guidelines, which forbid federal lobbyists from working on staff. But Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Pavía is an "active volunteer" -- not a paid staffer -- and can hold the job without running afoul of the campaign's rules.”

Birnbaum reminds us:

“Obama has criticized McCain for enlisting ‘some of the biggest lobbyists in Washington’ to run his presidential campaign. McCain has instituted tough new rules against lobbyists working for his campaign, which recently led to the resignation of five senior McCain advisers, including his top fundraiser, Tom Loeffler.”

Obama’s organization isn’t exactly clean:

“But Obama's rules also have been somewhat ambiguous. Some of his campaign's volunteer policy advisers are lobbyists. And at least one lobbyist said he was asked to take a leave of absence from his firm before he volunteered for the campaign.”

Birmbaum checked with Melanie Sloan of the Citizens for responsibility and Ethics in Washington who said:

‘"It sounds like a conflict with Obama's policy. They need to provide an explanation."’

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton hedged:

“Burton said that Pavía's role with the campaign was permissible but that the rules were not airtight. ‘This is not a perfect solution to the influence of special interests in Washington,’ he said. "But it is a symbol of the effort that Senator Obama is going to make to decrease the influence that the special interests do have.”’

Not only has the haloed Obama's lobbyist on staff in Puerto Rico been exposed this week, it seems BO couldn’t get his story straight when he reported on Memorial Day that his uncle had helped Americans liberate Auschwitz. Fox News quickly pointed out “two obvious problems with the tale: Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Army, and Obama’s American mother was an only child.”

The Obama camp quickly issued a statement:

‘“Senator Obama’s family is proud of the service of his grandfather and uncles in World War II — especially the fact that his great uncle was a part of liberating one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. “Yesterday he mistakenly referred to Auschwitz instead of Buchenwald in telling of his personal experience of a soldier in his family who served heroically.”’

For someone whose eloquence is often praised, Obama has made his share of troublesome gaffes.