Looks like it – this time in the appointment of a US Attorney.

A former corporate lobbyist has emerged as a top candidate for U.S. attorney in Alexandria, raising questions about how his appointment would square with the Obama administration's efforts to change the culture of Washington, according to legal and political sources.

Neil MacBride, 43, lobbied federal officials as recently as mid-2007 on behalf of the Business Software Alliance, which represents Microsoft, IBM and a host of other leading computer companies, U.S. Senate records show. MacBride, a former chief counsel to Vice President Biden, was appointed in January as an associate deputy attorney general.

Now I personally have no problem with appointing former lobbyists to government posts. After all, lobbying is an activity perfectly consistent with the law, and enables businesses and organizations to engage in the legitimate First Amendment activity of petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. That said, Obama said that such folks would not be allowed in his administration – therefore, any further exceptions to the rule (and there have been many) would be unacceptable.