No More Lobbyists?

John Edwards has declared that no lobbyists will work in the White House if he is elected President. On his website, Edwards makes his case for why lobbyists will be banned.

"I want to make an announcement today," Edwards said at an event in Washington, Iowa. "No corporate lobbyists or anyone who has lobbied for a foreign government will work in my White House. We will not replace corporate Republicans with corporate Democrats. I hear people argue that the way that you can get things done is to sit at a table with drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies, and negotiate with them and somehow they will voluntarily give away their power. I think this is a complete fantasy.

So, rather than basing his staff appointments based upon skills and experience, he is arbitrarily defining that all lobbyists are "bad"? Seems like a really cop out to pander to an anti-corporate base.