The revelation that John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, had until last month continued to receive payments from troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac through a public affairs firm he owns has prompted the Los Angeles Times (among others) to question how much longer McCain's "reformer" image can hold up.

Marv Ott, the Republican candidate running in the Minnesota House District 3A race has joined the growing list of lawmakers who've decided the big checks that lobbyists and the like are able to write campaigns aren't worth the questions about ethics they raise.  He's swearing off money from lobbyists and special interests for his campaign.

Seems like the heat Sen. John McCain has taken for his lobbyist-heavy campaign staff hasn't affected his choice of the person who will lead up his "transition team," the entity responsible for getting him ready to take office should he win in November. The leader of this team is William E. Timmons Sr., who heads up his own lobbying firm and has done work on behalf of several corporate institutions including everyone's favorite mortgage lender, Freddie Mac.

It would seem that getting his home remodeled by an oil services company then wildly underreporting the value of that remodel is not the only questionable thing Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been up to lately. Shocker, right? It appears that 'round about the time Stevens held his powerful post on the Senate Appropriations Committee a lobbying firm looking to win millions for their clients from the Committee went to work as fundraising consultants for Stevens.

As the Republican National Convention rolls on in St. Paul just a reminder to check in on the exploits of Nancy Watzman at the Sunlight Foundation who has been trying, with varied success, to gain access to the fancy corporate-sponsored parties that crop up around the conventions. Last week she traipsed all over Denver trying to get past the velvet rope and this week she's trying her luck with the Republican bouncers. Check our her updates here!

Once bitten twice shy? Or actually, bitten quite a few times and now at least marginally chastised: it appears that years of scandal have taken their toll on the party schedule surrounding the Republican National Convention in St. Paul this week. There are still parties-a-plenty put on by lobbying powerhouses and corporations alike but the glitz is a bit more muted this time out.