The New Republic Smears Obama

Does anyone else wonder why The New Republic regurgitated this two week old garbage from The Hill without doing any research to see if there was truth behind it?

Teaneck, N.J., lawyer Al DeCotiis says he and a few other Democratic boosters decided a year ago to select one presidential candidate for whom to raise money in the state. The group personally interviewed most of the major candidates, but couldn't get Mr. Obama. "We must have put in five or six calls," Mr. DeCotiis recalls. "For whatever reason, he didn't respond. Then we met with Hillary and we decided to endorse her and work aggressively for her presidency."

Of course, all TNR had to do was visit the website of Mr. DeCotiis’s firm to see that he was a longtime supporter of the Clintons and Joe Lieberman (who DeCotiis misspells “Leiberman” on his own website). Not only a supporter, but DeCotiis happened to be on the National Finance Council for Clinton/Gore and the Lieberman campaigns. Or did they anyone consider good reporting may have led to asking Mr. DeCotiis who he called when supposedly trying to reach Obama’s campaign?

But most importantly, TNR and The Hill leave out that Barack Obama does not accept contributions from lobbyists. All they had to do was check the website of Al DeCotiis’s firm DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Wisler, LLP to find:

"The Firm's complement of former public officials possesses a level of knowledge of the workings of government that few Firms can approach, and that has led to a thriving, effective government-related regulatory and lobbying practice."