"I don't think it's bad to have those voices at the table, but it requires legislators to know what their own positions are and to do their homework"

Barack Obama played poker and basketball with lobbyists when he was a state senator. He took their campaign donations and worked with them to write legislation. But he also helped pass ethics laws to reduce sharply their influence.

A look at Obama's seven years in the Illinois Legislature reveals a complicated relationship with lobbyists _ particularly for someone who now makes criticism of lobbyists a centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

The Illinois Democrat, now a first-term U.S. senator, argues that they have too much power in Washington. He has sworn off taking donations from Washington lobbyists and political action committees, while assailing rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for not doing the same. Read more