No third party checks?

The Missouri Democratic Party issued a fiery attack on Talent and his close advisor and campaign finance chair, Jack Oliver.

The press release stresses Oliver's role as a lobbyist and, more importantly, his connection to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Yet the Democrats' enthusiasm at hitting on what, at first, looks like political gold may have caused them to jump the gun.

Much of the press release emphasizes the connections between Oliver the DNC and Abramoff. As Deputy Director, Oliver was the RNC's donor masseur. Thus he handled a great deal of the money that passed through the Republican's fiscal distribution machine. In addition he acted as a liaison, arranging meetings between major donors and elected officials.

Yet their hardest shot, that Oliver personally received money–$10,000 to be exact–from an Abramoff client, isn't exactly accurate. He may have accepted the check, but he certainly couldn't cash it.

National Journal's Hotline digs into the story.

As the Abramoff and DeLay investigations continue to expand and increased scrutiny is directed towards the role of lobbyists serving for elected officials, more instances of potential abuse will be uncovered.

Thursday, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington have requested an investigation into whether a staff member of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) violated Senate rules. The staff member is married to a lobbyist who benefited from earmarks (read: pork) arranged by the Senator for the lobbyist's clients.

The Republican Party raised the age-old process of political access to high art, something they were quite proud of until recently. Even at the height of Democrat "accessibility", the Clinton Presidency, they didn't come close.

Yet the Dems tread a fine line in claiming a certain superiority in this field. Oliver's partner at Bryan Cave Strategies, a political consulting group, is former senior advisor to Rep. Dick Gephardt, Steve Elmendorf.

The Republican Party leaders may have taken the system to its extreme (in fact Rep. Tom DeLay's greatest contribution to modern politics, the K Street Project was designed to bring the lobbyists to heel), but in the end it may be the paid players that will walk away with the best deal.