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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6045543&page=1

"We're going to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., and we're going to take on the special interests, and we're going to reform government," McCain said at a Sept. 8 rally in Missouri.

Obama echoed that sentiment during a forum on national service on Sept. 11, declaring that "Washington is broken." Obama said "the domination of special interests, the domination of lobbyists, the loss of a civic culture in Washington" led to disasters such as the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Partly as a result of that rhetoric, major fundraisers and advisers to the candidates frequently have been subjects of attention in the campaign:

•Obama has acknowledged mistakes in dealing with fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted in June in Chicago on charges of fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting bribery. Obama has said it was "boneheaded" of him to get involved in a real estate deal with Rezko's wife, and he donated to charity about $150,000 in contributions raised by Rezko.

•James Johnson, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, stepped down as the head of Obama's vice presidential search committee in June after news accounts about below-market-rate home loans he received while sitting on the board of a subprime lender. He said in a statement that he did not want to be a distraction to the campaign.

•Tom Loeffler, a lobbyist whose clients include defense contractors and foreign interests, stepped down as McCain's national finance co-chairman in May. He was one of six McCain campaign workers, fundraisers or advisers who resigned in the wake of a new campaign policy that forbids paid staffers from working as lobbyists and bans volunteers from working for independent groups seeking to influence the presidential race.

"Bottom line: These are perfect examples of why it is so difficult to change the culture," Sheila Krumholz, head of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, said. "It's not just the candidates, it's everyone they surround themselves with, and many of those people learn the business of political persuasion under a different set of rules."

Examinations of the past actions of Obama's finance committee member, Reynolds, and McCain's fundraiser, Malek, underscore the difficulties Obama and McCain face in promising to clean up Washington while raising tens of millions of dollars with the help of people with a keen interest in government decisions.

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'Influenced and rewarded'

As part of his 1999 plea agreement, Silvester also said that as Connecticut's treasurer, he had dealings with Washington lobbyist Wayne Berman, another McCain fundraiser. Silvester said he accepted a job from Berman "intending to be influenced and rewarded" for investing millions in state pension money with a Berman client.

Berman is managing director of the lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations and a longtime Washington power player.

He was a major fundraiser for both of President Bush's campaigns and has raised more than $500,000 for McCain as a co-chairman of the candidate's finance committee.

In 1999, Berman represented the Carlyle Group, a Washington-based investment house. Silvester directed a $50 million investment with Carlyle Asia in December 1998, the month before he left the treasurer's office and joined Park Strategies, a Washington consulting firm Berman founded.