I forgot to mention in my earlier post one of the most damaging aspects to Roy Neel’s background. We know that Howard Dean’s new campaign manager was head of the U.S. Telecom Association in Washington in the late 1990s, after having worked in the Clinton administration.
But The Nation’s David Corn raised an even more troubling point in his column about Neel: USTA’s support for Republicans.
In 1999 and 2000, the USTA spent $3.5 million to lobby Congress, according to lobbying reports it filed. (The association probably spent more; not all lobbying activity is reported.) To help the telecoms, Neel recruited other influence peddlers in town, including the lobbying firm of Haley Barbour, who then chaired the Republican National Committee….
To increase the odds that members of Congress would heed the pleas of telecom companies, the U.S. Telecom Association, through its political action committee, donated generously to incumbent legislators. In the 1998 and 2000 election cycles, it doled out $266,000 to members of the House and Senator. Nearly 80 percent of that went to Republicans. GOPers helped by this PAC included Representatives Dick Armey, Bob Barr, Tom DeLay, Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert and Henry Hyde and Senators John Ashcroft, Sam Brownback, Bill Frist, Orrin Hatch and Trent Lott.
It really seems that Neel was committed to bringing change to Washington.
So let’s review. Howard Dean, who calls anyone who questions his wisdom Bush-Lite and rails against “Washington Democrats” daily, has hired the head lobbyist of an association that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to some of the most right-wing politicians in Washington, including DeLay and Ashcroft.
Any time now, Dean for American can send out that press release explaining all of this.