From Steve Benen:

Oddly enough, when I started going through the news this morning, I noticed a story about John McCain criticizing lobbyists, and thought that would have to be the big political story the day. That, of course, was before I noticed that McCain couldn’t keep track of all the houses he owns.

Nevertheless, overshadowed or not, this really is pretty crazy.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.

“Whenever there’s a corrupt system, then you’re going to have these birds of prey descend on it to get their share of the spoils,” McCain said in a half-hour interview with Politico following a town-hall meeting in the southern part of this swing state. […]

The senator went so far as to say: “Lobbyists don’t come to my office. Because they know they’re not going to be an earmark. They know they’re not going to get a pork-barrel project.”

Even by McCain standards, this is transparent nonsense. Putting aside the fact that McCain, like every other senator, has sought and received earmark, the reality is lobbyists do come to McCain’s office, and as a rule, once they get there, they’re given influential jobs in the McCain campaign.

McCain’s campaign manager is a lobbyist. His chief strategist is a lobbyist. His top foreign policy advisor is a lobbyist. The man he tapped to run the Republican convention is a lobbyist. His top two senior advisors are both lobbyists. His campaign is being financed by donations from lobbyists, bundled by other lobbyists.

…

By one count, McCain has at least 159 lobbyists, on leave from their firms, running his campaign operation. It’s why McCain has defended lobbyists and the lobbying industry over and over again.

McCain is one mavericky straight-talker.