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I didn't see the debate, so I'm not clear whether Clinton accused Obama of his having a campaign manager or a state co-chair who works as a lobbyist for big pharma. In any case, he evidently said it wasn't true, and that itself was a fairly big gaffe as far as I'm concerned.
HOWEVER:
I live in Vermont. I have a friend who's *gasp* a lobbyist. He's also a good guy. As you are probably aware, this is very small state. There are very few lobbying firms. And they take just about everything. My friend lobbied passionately for civil unions/gay marriage. He lobbied against WalMart- and he lobbied for corporation- including big pharma. That's how it works here, and it's not a bad system. Furthermore, if he didn't take almost all clients, he's be out of business. Period. And he's done a boatload of good up to the Statehouse- to put it in Vermont vernacular. New Hampshire is the same way. That's how it works. And this isn't DC type lobbying. It's barely related. These are both very part time legislatures with citizen legislators who are generally just your neigbors or cousins. They go up to the Statehouse and make their case and that's it. I don't think there's ever been a lobbying scandal in Vermont. If there has been, I've missed it.
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