What Role Will Lobbyists Play in the Democratic Convention?

By VideoNation

August 22, 2008

Complete Convention Coverage »

VideoNation The Nation's Ari Berman dissects the corporate influence-peddling at this year's Democratic convention.

» More

By all accounts, the 2008 Democratic Convention will be a celebration for the ages, but the enormous scale of the parties in Denver will not merely be a reflection of Barack Obama's historic candidacy. In the face of increasingly stringent lobbying regulations, lobbyist-sponsored convention parties have become the primary sites for corporate influence-peddling within the Democratic Party.

On the eve of the convention, Nation political correspondent Ari Berman previews the behind-the-scenes wrangling that will occur at these closed-door affairs and highlights the conundrum they may pose for Barack Obama.

-Will Di Novi

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.

Most Read

Issues »

Most Emailed

Issues »

Popular Topics

Blogs

» State of Change

Disappointment in Georgia | Palin's pick, Saxby Chambliss, wins the last Senate election of 2008.
John Nichols
Posted 13 minutes ago

» And Another Thing

Can you help "Nickie"? | Bringing the abortion debate down to earth
Katha Pollitt

» The Notion

DC to Delhi: Only Our Missiles -- Not Yours | What is Rice going to say to India: only DC not Delhi is allowed to bomb Pakistan?
Laura Flanders

» Act Now!

World AIDS Day | How to help in the fight against the AIDS pandemic.
Peter Rothberg

» The Beat

Why Obama's Got "Complete Confidence" In Clinton | She won't bring the change his backers believed in. But Obama never really shared that belief.
John Nichols

» Editor's Cut

Robert Gates: Wrong Man for the Job | What we need after eight ruinous years is experience informed by good judgment.
Katrina vanden Heuvel

» The Dreyfuss Report

Obama's New Team at State, Defense, NSC | And some comments about why John Brennan didn't get the CIA job.
Robert Dreyfuss

» Passing Through

Forget GM's Plan -- Where's The Government's Plan? | Create a demand for green cars.
Jane Hamsher

» Capitolism

Is Personnel Policy? | How much do personnel choices reflect the Obama administration's policy direction
Christopher Hayes