John Sidney McCain calls lobbyists "birds of prey", now with bonus tidbits!

By GottaLaff

[UPDATE: Marc Ambinder says we're wrong. J Sid doesn't favor a draft.]

And who are J Sid's closest advisors again? Mm-hmm, uh-huh, go on, oh really, I thought so. But as long as he disparages other lobbyists, I'm sure the press will give him a pass:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.

“Whenever there’s a corrupt system, then you’re going to have these birds of prey descend on it to get their share of the spoils,” McCain said in a half-hour interview with Politico following a town-hall meeting in the southern part of this swing state.

McCain, clearly weary of vice-presidential speculation, began by saying preemptively that he was not going to say anything about the hot topic. His mood initially seemed sour, and his answers were clipped, although he warmed as the conversation went on.

Apparently, he doesn't see the irony in his statement. I've got more tidbits, if you want to see them. You do? Alrighty then:

Sen. John McCain has filed campaign finance reports today that provide details about the $27 million he raised in July.

But the same cannot be said for the McCain victory funds overseen by the Republican National Committee. The RNC is filing those reports on a quarterly basis. That means the public will have to wait until Oct. 15 -- two weeks before Election Day -- to learn the identities of the large donors who are ponying up as much as $70,000 per person to support McCain's presidential bid.

The Democratic National Committee's fundraising counterpart is filing its forms monthly.

And finally, just because you've been so good, remember all that bad polling news?

Still: the environment favors Obama.

A whopping 60 percent say it's time to have a president who will focus on progress and moving America forward, compared with 35 percent who would rather have a president who focuses on protecting what has made America great.

And voters see McCain as way too close to President Bush.

Don't say I never did anything nice for you.