Now, comes news that the Russian military has crossed a border into Georgia. "Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory," McCain said. ... You may already know that McCain foreign policy director Randy Scheunemann represented the former Soviet republic of Georgia as a lobbyist between 2004 and 2006.

As of March 2008, Scheunemann no longer works as a lobbyist for foreign entities, but he remains a principal at his lobbying firm, which still has Georgia as a client. Awkward!

Voters will likely be less concerned about McCain taking foreign policy advice from lobbyists than they are about his willingness to take economic advice from lobbyists, particularly when that advice leads to a huge loss of jobs. McCain's promise to ask the Justice Department to review the proposed DHL merger for anti-trust violations is empty, given the Department's willingness to bless mergers during Republican administrations. Ohio voters are equally likely to be unimpressed with his promise "to help provide federal emergency grants and other aid to the displaced workers and devastated communities if DHL ends local operations." They want jobs, not job retraining and emergency assistance.

The larger question for McCain is whether he can credibly campaign as a different kind of Republican when he's surrounded by lobbyists. Barack Obama is running a radio ad (mp3) blaming McCain for the potential job loss. Whether or not you think the criticism is fair, it's likely to appeal to voters in a swing state who are worried about their jobs in a lackluster economy.