Monday, October 27, 2008 7:30 AM

How Lobbyists Feel About Being Pummeled

So, how do lobbying professionals really feel about being kicked around on the campaign trail by Barack Obama and John McCain?

"It seems a little bit silly and arbitrary," said Dutko Worldwide Vice Chairman Gary Andres at a panel co-hosted by the Center for American Progress and American University.  "I think the lobbyist argument... at its core is political," added Patrick Griffin of the firm Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland & Stewart.  AU political scientist and scholar on the lobbying industry James Thurber invited experts to opine on the candidates' rhetoric on lobby bans while also offering their own advice to the next president.

- Alexis Simendinger

Speaking at the October 15 conference, Griffin, who served as legislative affairs director under President Clinton, conceded that Obama and McCain want to address some "legitimate" issues, such as access and money, transparency, and the revolving door. Yet, Griffin called some of the candidates' solutions on the campaign trail "distortions and caricatures." He said there are useful ways to tackle revolving-door problems, but not by "embracing all of this debate that's going on from either camp about the evilness of [lobbying]." (Griffin later told NJ he is not directly advising Obama's campaign or transition team.)

Andres, who was deputy assistant for legislative affairs in President George H.W. Bush's White House and has written a book about lobbying, said the public is unclear about what is a lobbyist, an advocate, an adviser or a strategic consultant. "If you were to be involved in some other kind of advocacy activities - whether it be grassroots, or whether it be advocacy advertising or whatever - you may be trying to influence the process just as much, but you're not considered a lobbyist," Andres said. "I don't know if this means that people who come from the realm of advocacy, but not direct lobbying, are now going to be more the candidates for these [government] positions" in the next administration. Andres warned that inventing new restrictions can result in "a whole bunch of artificial lines."

"So, if you work at a lobbying firm, I guess you can't work at the White House," he added. "If you work at a law firm and you're a registered lobbyist, you can't work at the White House. But if you don't lobby, but you do other things [on behalf of clients], you can work at the White House."