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Lobbyists take on diminished role in Denver |
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By Kevin Bogardus
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Posted: 08/27/08 03:43 PM [ET] |
DENVER — The parties raged. The glad-handing hasn’t stopped. But lobbyists say their formal role in the Mile High City’s convention has been much more subdued than at past events.
Some of Washington’s most prominent Democratic lobbyists are not handling key jobs that they performed for the past several conventions.
Tim Keating, who lobbies for Boeing, has helped handle credentials at every Democratic convention since 1996, but did not volunteer in Denver. John Orlando, a lobbyist with CBS, also isn’t working the convention.
Several lobbyists said the lower K Street presence in the convention hall is directly related to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign, which has worked to distance its candidate from K Street while vowing to clean up Washington.
“It’s clear that they don’t want media outlets to know about us,” said a lobbyist attending the convention. “It is basically Obama World.”
Some lobbyists who reached out in advance to see if they could help out at the convention didn’t get the sense they were welcome. Steve Palmer, a vice president at Van Scoyoc Associates, asked six months ago but was told at the end of July he would not be needed to volunteer.
“I think it was pretty clear. They didn’t want any registered lobbyists involved,” said Palmer, who had no hard feelings over the episode.
Palmer volunteered as a liaison at the 2000 and 2004 Democratic conventions, where he helped seat lawmakers’ state delegations and arranged private meetings for senior officials. Palmer was told congressional aides would have that responsibility this year.
Of course lobbyists still have a presence. Several K Street firms have hosted parties attended by lawmakers, staff and delegates, and new ethics rules seem to have done little to tamp down the partying. Party invitations often said the events were cleared by the House and Senate ethics committees.
But this presence isn’t in the convention hall, where in the past professional lobbyists have helped ensure the actual convention works smoothly.
Some say lobbyists are stepping back voluntarily because they don’t want to hurt Obama. “People are stepping aside because they don’t want to be part of the story,” said a senior Democratic lobbyist.
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