A June 13 Politico article reported a claim by Republican attorney Brad Smith that the distinction drawn by Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) between registered federal lobbyists, whose campaign contributions Obama and Edwards will not accept, and other lobbying firm employees, whose contributions they will accept, “is a little bit phony.” The Politico, however, failed to identify Smith as a Republican former Federal Election Commission chairman. Smith was identified only as “chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics,” “whose group promotes the deregulation of elections.”

According to the Center for Competitive Politics website, the organization was founded in 2005 by Smith and Stephen M. Hoersting, a “campaign finance attorney and former general counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee,” with the mission of “educat[ing] the public on the actual effects of money in politics, and the results of a more free and competitive electoral process.” Smith was appointed a commissioner of the six-member FEC in 2000 by President Clinton and later confirmed by the Senate. He served a one-year term as chairman in 2004. By law, no more than three commissioners can be members of the same political party.

On May 28, 2000, The Washington Post reported on the Senate's confirmation of Smith:

Smith is controversial because he advocates repealing campaign finance laws on free speech grounds. The FEC, which was set up by the post-Watergate Federal Elections Campaign Act, is charged with enforcing laws on money in politics. It has three commissioners selected by Democrats and three picked by Republicans. Smith was recruited by Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the leading Senate foe of bills in Congress to tighten campaign finance laws.

From the June 13 Politico report:

Brad Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, said both Edwards and Obama have made a calculation that the political mileage of not taking donations from lobbyists outweighs the cash they would take in.

And Obama has been putting some miles on the anti-lobbyist rhetoric. On Tuesday, his campaign sent out a fundraising solicitation that read, in part, “At a time when money from Washington lobbyists and special interests is polluting the political process more than ever, the question for campaigns isn't just whether they can compete financially -- it's how they do it.”

Smith called the distinction Edwards and Obama draw between federal registered lobbyists and others in the lobbying community “a little bit phony.” For the two candidates, that distinction meant ceding almost $210,000 in federal lobbyists' donations to Clinton, according to the CRP's data.

“It's really a symbolic issue,” said Smith, whose group promotes the deregulation of elections. “It's one that (Sens.) Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) or Joe Biden (D-Del.) can't afford to do. They need the cash to compete.”