The now-infamous K Street Project, created by congressional Republicans to dominate Washington’s powerful lobbying industry, is no more. It started unraveling a bit last year, but the election of a Democratic House and Senate sealed the deal.
Roll Call reported yesterday that the “legacy” of the Project, of course, lives on. Democrats aren’t creating their own parallel initiative (indeed, the Dems’ lobbying reform proposals explicitly ban any similar effort), but after years of hardball tactics, K Street is the only part of Washington in which Republicans maintain a majority.
The result is an awkward environment — Republican lobbyists are completely lost in trying to figure out how to function in a Democratic Congress. Their perspective provides a true illustration of why having Dems run Congress actually makes a difference.
Several Democratic and Republican lobbyists agreed GOP consultants often get it wrong with Democrats because their corporate pitch is such an easy sell in Republican offices, which already are ideologically sympathetic to businesses’ concerns.
Meeting with Democrats, some Republicans neglect to factor in a much wider array of constituencies that hold sway with the new majority, including labor, environmental and consumer groups.
“Republican lobbyists are used to walking into an office and just saying, ‘I’d like you to do this,'” said one Republican operative who regularly lobbies across the aisle. “With Democrats, you really have to hone your arguments, and you really have to sell them on policy.” (emphasis added)
No, this isn’t exactly surprising, but it’s nevertheless interesting. In previous years, in Tom DeLay’s Congress, corporate lobbyists had it easy. Their clients had a wish list, and the GOP majority was anxious to deliver.
Now these lobbyists are finding that when they ask the Democratic majority to do something, those darned liberals want reasons and stuff. They ask pesky questions, such as, “Why?”
No matter how frustrated we may get with congressional Dems, it’s worth remembering that when it comes to running Congress, there is a difference between a Democratic majority and a Republican one.