Obam does some slick money raising:

[rodeodance]

One campaign co-chairman for Illinois Senator Obama, 46, is former Senate



http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20080204/pl_bloomberg/apnpwl7xnjik_1
......Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a policy adviser at Alston & Bird LLP. The firm was paid $4.1 million by companies such as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Healthsouth Corp.

Daschle isn't a registered lobbyist, yet has clout. ``Some of the most powerful people in Washington's influence industry aren't registered to lobby,'' Krumholz said.

And while Obama doesn't accept lobbyists' money, he raised the $86,282 in cash from employees of firms whose business centers on lobbying. He takes in even more money from employees of law firms which also engage in lobbying, including $226,491 from those working for Sidley Austin LLP, his old law firm, which was paid $3.1 million to lobby by clients such as Caterpillar Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc.

For the lobbyists, the return comes if their candidate wins, said Mary Boyle, a spokeswoman for Washington-based Common Cause, which supports stronger lobbying laws.

``They certainly would get access and influence if and when he or she become the next president,'' Boyle said.