As election night sulking and celebrating slowly ebbs outside the beltway, here’s a flavor of what the lobbying insiders are talking about:
On the “status quo election”
Republican lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford in a memo to clients: “Leader Reid will have a tenuous majority from a policy perspective as several Democratic senators are philosophically closer to Republicans than many of their more progressive elected leaders.”
Lobbyist Bruce Mehlman of Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti: “The overwhelmingly high reelection rate of incumbents means Congress can attack the big issue logjam immediately. 2013 promises to be busier, more intense and more bipartisan than any year since 1997, with huge issues such as tax and fiscal reform actually starting to move. Our Senate Democrats and House Republicans are already running full-speed.”
On lame ducks moving to K St.
Ivan Adler, principal at the McCormick Group:
- “Those members who are seen [as] friendlier to business will have a much easier time getting hired by these firms than others. The game is to get clients. You’re going to have to find people who can reach across the aisle in order to service them.”
- “If [Scott Brown] wanted to go lobby, I think he’s gold-plated. Someone with Massachusetts interests should be looking at him.”
- “The election has solidified the job prospects of the people working on the regulatory side, especially when it comes to ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank. Those laws are here to stay. K Street is going to hire people who can play goalie. They are going to have to be able to stop a lot of pucks.”
Chris Jones, managing partner at CapitolWorks: “Democrats that have come from a red state and Blue Dogs will continue to be a prized commodity.”
The Hill: “Though a number of lawmakers who lost their election bids will likely enter the lobbyist pool, several senators who were already known to be leaving Capitol Hill next year — including Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — remain the most coveted prospects for K Street.”
On the lobbying agenda
Tim Ryan, chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association: “With the election now over, it is vital that we return to the work at hand, namely, the continued implementation of Dodd-Frank and addressing the fiscal cliff.”
Tony Podesta, founder and chairman of Podesta Group: “If the [House] Speaker and the [Senate] majority leader are for it, you have got a shot at it. There won’t be any markup where you can add a few extraneous items to the bill. … The lobbying will be very narrow. The odds of a passionate member of the leadership adding something to the bill may be low. The odds of the rank-and-file membership getting something into the bill are zero.”
Bob Van Heuvelen, founder of VH Strategies: “We are not going to be adding things to this Christmas tree. We are going to be clarifying what programs should and should not be cut. There are cuts that are going to be made, and that leads to winners and losers, which leads to the need for advocacy. It’s going to be hard, but it’s not going to be impossible.”
Former Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), now special counsel to Alston & Bird: “If gridlock is a drought season for our kind of work, we’re going to enter the rainy season.”
Tags: alston & bird, billy tauzin, bob van heuvelen, bruce mehlman, capitolworks, chris jones, clark lytle geduldig & cranford, election, election commentary, election night, Harry Reid, hill, Ivan Adler, k st., lame duck, Lobbying, lobbyist, mccormick group, mehlman vogel castagnetti, presidential election, status quo election, the hill, tim ryan, Tony Podesta
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on Thursday, November 8th, 2012 at 10:14 am and is filed under Lobbying News by Geoffrey Lyons.
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Both comments and pings are currently closed.
What K St. is Saying About the Election
As election night sulking and celebrating slowly ebbs outside the beltway, here’s a flavor of what the lobbying insiders are talking about:
On the “status quo election”
Republican lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford in a memo to clients: “Leader Reid will have a tenuous majority from a policy perspective as several Democratic senators are philosophically closer to Republicans than many of their more progressive elected leaders.”
Lobbyist Bruce Mehlman of Mehlman, Vogel, Castagnetti: “The overwhelmingly high reelection rate of incumbents means Congress can attack the big issue logjam immediately. 2013 promises to be busier, more intense and more bipartisan than any year since 1997, with huge issues such as tax and fiscal reform actually starting to move. Our Senate Democrats and House Republicans are already running full-speed.”
On lame ducks moving to K St.
Ivan Adler, principal at the McCormick Group:
Chris Jones, managing partner at CapitolWorks: “Democrats that have come from a red state and Blue Dogs will continue to be a prized commodity.”
The Hill: “Though a number of lawmakers who lost their election bids will likely enter the lobbyist pool, several senators who were already known to be leaving Capitol Hill next year — including Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) — remain the most coveted prospects for K Street.”
On the lobbying agenda
Tim Ryan, chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association: “With the election now over, it is vital that we return to the work at hand, namely, the continued implementation of Dodd-Frank and addressing the fiscal cliff.”
Tony Podesta, founder and chairman of Podesta Group: “If the [House] Speaker and the [Senate] majority leader are for it, you have got a shot at it. There won’t be any markup where you can add a few extraneous items to the bill. … The lobbying will be very narrow. The odds of a passionate member of the leadership adding something to the bill may be low. The odds of the rank-and-file membership getting something into the bill are zero.”
Bob Van Heuvelen, founder of VH Strategies: “We are not going to be adding things to this Christmas tree. We are going to be clarifying what programs should and should not be cut. There are cuts that are going to be made, and that leads to winners and losers, which leads to the need for advocacy. It’s going to be hard, but it’s not going to be impossible.”
Former Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), now special counsel to Alston & Bird: “If gridlock is a drought season for our kind of work, we’re going to enter the rainy season.”
Tags: alston & bird, billy tauzin, bob van heuvelen, bruce mehlman, capitolworks, chris jones, clark lytle geduldig & cranford, election, election commentary, election night, Harry Reid, hill, Ivan Adler, k st., lame duck, Lobbying, lobbyist, mccormick group, mehlman vogel castagnetti, presidential election, status quo election, the hill, tim ryan, Tony Podesta
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2012 at 10:14 am and is filed under Lobbying News by Geoffrey Lyons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.