Senators Barack Obama and John McCain each cite the mess at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a consequence of the corrosive coziness of lobbyists and politicians that they promise to end. But each man and his party also have ties to the fallen giants that will complicate the next president’s job of reshaping the mortgage finance companies that have been essential to the economy. And neither man has a record of directly challenging the companies they now criticize.

So far, Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has received more than $181,600 from lobbyists and trade groups, while his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, has received just over $6,000. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who ended her bid for the presidency in June, got more than $87,000.