I guess I'll get to use this pic a lot

Senator John McCain has staked his campaign for the presidency in large part on his reputation as a reformer intent on curbing the influence of money in politics.

But an examination by The New York Times of a list of 106 elite fund-raisers who have brought in more than $100,000 each for Mr. McCain found that about a sixth of them were lobbyists. The list of “bundlers” was released on Friday by the McCain campaign.

The sizable number of lobbyists, who are outnumbered on the list only by those working in the financial services industry, offers another example of the balancing act that Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is having to strike as he campaigns for the presidency and seeks to maintain his reputation as a reformer.

The McCain campaign’s disclosure on Friday of its top bundlers of contributions was part of its efforts to furnish a sense of financial transparency to the public, in keeping with Mr. McCain’s past focus on overhauling campaign finance and his criticism of the influence of special interests in Washington.

[snip]

But the McCain campaign, which struggled over much of the past year in raising money, is now seeking to emulate the record-setting money machine that powered George W. Bush to victories in 2000 and 2004, bestowing special titles upon bundlers who exceed certain financial targets.

Instead of “Pioneers” and “Rangers,” as President Bush’s top fund-raisers were called, Mr. McCain is dubbing the 73 people so far who have brought in $100,000 or more “Trailblazers,” while the 33 who brought in $250,000 or more are being called “Innovators.”

Campaign finance watchdogs criticized the Pioneer and Ranger system for establishing an elite class of donors, many of whom went on to ambassadorships and other political appointments. But Mr. McCain’s advisers believe the system offers the best chance for the campaign to encourage as many people as possible to raise large amounts of cash for him.

Mr. McCain has badly trailed both Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in fund-raising — in March, for example, he brought in $15 million, compared with Mr. Obama’s $40 million and Mrs. Clinton’s $20 million. While Mr. McCain’s Democratic counterparts, especially Mr. Obama, have enjoyed much success in harvesting small-dollar donations over the Internet, Mr. McCain has not built an effective Internet fund-raising machine, forcing him to depend on a circle of wealthy donors.

And how can you talk about transparency when you try to pretend your wife doesn't have 100 million in unknown investments? Transparency? Like how he's trying to ignore the rules on public financing for campaigns and actually breaking the law?