McCain’s national finance co-chair resigns

McCain finance co-chair resigns He’s leaving the presidential campaign because of ties to lobbyists

The Associated Press

updated 8:29 p.m. CT, Sun., May. 18, 2008

WASHINGTON - John McCain's national finance co-chairman has stepped down, the latest casualty of a presidential campaign eager to cauterize damage caused by its ties to lobbyists.

Former Texas Rep. Thomas G. Loeffler, one of McCain's key fundraisers, resigned in the wake of a new McCain policy on conflicts of interest that required campaign volunteers to disclose their lobbying connections.

"Mr. Loeffler has resigned from his position with the campaign," McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Sunday.

Loeffler, who runs the lobbying shop The Loeffler Group, is the highest-profile departure from McCain's inner circle since a summer 2007 shake-up cost McCain his campaign manager and chief strategist.

- rest at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24696577