The rhetoric's getting a little thick in here but I still feel the urge to click my campaign finance reformer heels together in glee that the issue of lobbyist influence is getting top billing as an issue in the presidential campaign. Sure, since the Beltway was paved candidates have been campaigning on their distance outside of it, but this discussion is getting at a real question: just who is shaping the message and campaign of our next President?

John McCain's presidential campaign has dismissed five staff for their lobbying ties after news broke that several staff had lobbied on behalf of foreign dictators and corporate interests and McCain's campaign manager instituted a new conflict of interest policy. Tom Loeffler, McCain's national finance co-chair, became the highest profile person to go when he resigned Sunday.

The past client lists of the some of the lobbyists working for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign have been getting some attention. Here's another, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal.

This weekend, word leaked that Doug Goodyear, the man hired by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to run the GOP convention this summer, had represented the brutal military regime in Myanmar.

One down, over 100 more to go.

The trouble about running for President on your image as an anti-corruption, reformer kind of guy is that when stories surface that puncture a hole in that image, it's going to be front page news. And that's what happened to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today in this story in the Washington Post that suggests McCain did a very lucrative favor for one of his campaign's big donors.

Is Barack Obama considering self-imposed contributions limits during the general election if he is the Democratic presidential nominee? Sam Stein at the Huffington Post writes that Obama mentioned the idea at a fundraiser, perhaps in response to the flack he's gotten over possibly not using the presidential public financing system.

Obama's made combating the influence of money in politics a big message throughout his campaign and he continues to do so:

The media narrative of "Sen. John McCain the maverick reformer" takes a bit of a beating in this New York Times story about one instance in particular when McCain used his influence to help a big campaign contributor -- more evidence that our corrupt and corrupting system needs an overhaul.

The USA Today spends some time in an editorial today highlighting the ever-increasing role of money in the political process and the need for full public financing of elections for Congress and a fix for the presidential public financing system:

Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly has a letter in today's Washington Post explaining the distinction we've been talking about when it comes to how Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) measure up on the issue of public financing of elections: Obama has pledged support for public financing of federal elections, McCain has not.

United Press International has a short piece up on the close relationship between lobbyist Charlie Black and Sen. John McCain. The relationship, which helped solidify McCain's conservative credentials has cast doubt on just how committed McCain is to fighting special interest influence in Washington. Can you claim credentials as an independent with these kinds of insiders shaping your campaign?