New lobbyist reports detail millions in donations

WASHINGTON -- Registered lobbyists have donated large amounts of money to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, even as he denounces their profession. But Democratic candidates for Congress have also raised prodigious sums from lobbyists, outdoing the Republicans, according to reports filed for the first time under a new ethics law.

Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, says he does not want money from lobbyists, but a few modest contributions have slipped through. Health care, education, environmental and human rights lobbyists have given to Obama.

In total, lobbyists and trade groups have reported giving about $10.4 million to presidential and congressional candidates in the first half of this year.

So far, McCain, who has locked up the Republican presidential nomination, has received more than $181,600 from lobbyists and trade groups, while Obama has received just over $6,000. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ended her bid for the presidency in June, received more than $87,000.

The gifts are disclosed in "lobbying contribution reports" filed with Congress under the ethics law, which was adopted last year in response to scandals involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Under the law, lobbyists must itemize their contributions to political candidates and committees, presidential libraries and events honoring members of Congress. Lobbyists face criminal penalties for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements.

Employees at Republican lobbying firms such as Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock have made many contributions to McCain and other Republican lawmakers, including the Senate and House minority leaders and the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Some lobbyists chafe at being asked for money by the McCain campaign while he disparages lobbyists as agents of "big-moneyed special interests." But they know that such criticism is a staple of politics.

"We are 100 percent behind McCain," said Kathryn Braden Huffard, a lobbyist at Fierce, Isakowitz, whose clients include Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant. "In the wake of the Abramoff affair, it seems, there has to be a villain. But Senator McCain understands that many lobbyists are smart people who have experience on the issues."

With just days remaining before the July 31 deadline for reports, lobbyists have disclosed contributions of $4.7 million to Democrats and $3.3 million to Republicans.

Information in some filings was incomplete, so the political affiliation of some of the recipients could not be readily determined. In addition, some money went to political action committees that focus on specific issues and support candidates of both parties.

Lobbyists gave $181,500 to the campaign committee for Senate Democrats, nearly three times the amount reported in donations to the Senate Republican committee. Lobbyists have reported $108,000 in contributions to the campaign committee for House Democrats, about 20 percent more than they reported giving to the House Republican committee.

ON THE TRAIL

McCAIN ON DISABILITIES: McCain is pledging support for a proposal to expand protections for disabled people under an 18-year-old landmark civil rights law.

Speaking from Arizona by satellite to a disabilities forum in Columbus, Ohio, McCain said Saturday that revisions to the Americans With Disabilities Act must leave no doubt that it was intended to protect from any discrimination that's based on physical or mental disabilities.

The Supreme Court generally has exempted from the law's protection people with partial physical disabilities, as well as people with physical impairments that can be treated with medication or devices such as hearing aids. "We must clarify the definition of a disability to assure full protection for those the law is intended to serve," said McCain, who was spending the weekend at his nearby northern Arizona getaway.

OBAMA ON ECONOMY: Obama turned his attention back to the stalled U.S. economy Saturday as he wrapped up an eight-country trip abroad with a stroll through the gardens of 10 Downing Street with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting said he would not be surprised if his travels had dented his popularity in a nation where economic hardship is the top voter concern.

"We've been out of the country for a week," he told news crews outside the British prime minister's residence. "People are worried about gas prices. They're worried about home foreclosures."

Obama described his talks with foreign leaders as relevant to the U.S. economic downturn. Cooperation with allies in settling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said, could free up money spent by the U.S. military each month on waging war.

"That's $10 billion, $15 billion that we can't spend at home to rebuild our economy," Obama said.

Obama's trip has drawn scathing criticism from McCain of Arizona.

"With all the breathless coverage from abroad, and with Senator Obama now addressing his speeches to 'the people of the world,' I'm starting to feel a little left out," McCain said in an address focused largely on the domestic economy. "Maybe you are, too."

(The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.)