Kitty Bennett and Griff Palmer contributed reporting.
Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012
Room for Lobbyists in Romney Campaign
For a candidate running against the entrenched interests of Washington, Mitt Romney keeps an awful lot of lobbyists around. His kitchen cabinet includes some of the most prominent Republican lobbyists in Washington, including Charles R. Black Jr., the chairman of Prime Policy Group and a lobbyist for Walmart and AT&T; Wayne L. Berman, who is chairman of Ogilvy Government Relations and represents Pfizer, the drug manufacturer; and Vin Weber, the managing partner for Clark & Weinstock. At least 294 registered lobbyists donated a total of at least $401,000 to Mr. Romney through the end of 2011, according to a New York Times review of federal disclosure records, while an elite group of 16 “bundlers,” representing interests as varied as Wall Street, Microsoft and the tobacco company Altria, gathered more than $2 million worth of checks from friends and business partners for Mr. Romney’s campaign. Other lobbyists serve on one of Mr. Romney’s policy advisory teams, have hosted fund-raisers for his campaign or have joined the many influential Republicans whose endorsements Mr. Romney’s campaign has hailed. Among them are David Wilkins, a former United States ambassador to Canada who lobbies for the Canadian oil industry, and Stephen Rademaker, a former State Department official who lobbies for the defense contractor General Dynamics. Many of the lobbyists advising Mr. Romney, like Mr. Black and Mr. Berman, are veterans of other Republican presidential campaigns, including Senator John McCain’s four years ago. “These are the people who have made a career at the intersection of policy and presidential campaigns,” said David A. Donnelly, executive director of Public Campaign Action Fund, which advocates for public financing of elections and tracks campaign contributions. “To the extent that Mitt Romney depends on these people, and he gets elected, it’s four more years of business as usual in Washington.” A spokeswoman for Mr. Romney did not respond to requests for comment. In an era when K Street firms serve as holding pens for political operatives and landing pads for retired lawmakers of both parties, the profusion of lobbyists around Mr. Romney’s campaign in part reflects the growing embrace of his candidacy by the Republican establishment, including most of the party’s elite donors and dozens of members of Congress. His supporters disputed the notion that Mr. Romney’s case against the Washington establishment was undercut by his deep ties to it. “He does have people who respect him, like him and trust him” in Washington, said Ron Kaufman, who was a senior adviser at the public affairs firm Dutko Grayling until last year and now often travels with Mr. Romney on the campaign trail. “There’s no question of that. But it’s different from being of them — and it’s not going to affect how he will govern.” Other Republican candidates also count lobbyists among their advisers and donors. And while President Obama does not accept campaign contributions from registered lobbyists, at least 15 of his own bundlers work at lobbying shops or Washington consulting companies but have not registered as lobbyists with the Senate. Those bundlers raised more than $5 million for Mr. Obama’s campaign through September. Yet as Mr. Romney seeks to highlight his career as a businessman and attacks his chief Republican rivals as “creatures of Washington,” the contrast between his anti-Beltway message and the layers of lobbyists aiding his campaign can be jarring. Speaking to reporters early Wednesday after Rick Santorum won caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and the primary in Missouri, Mr. Romney’s senior strategist, Stuart Stevens, remarked, “I just don’t think it’s a time when people are looking to Washington to solve problems with Washington.” Less than 48 hours later, Mr. Romney’s campaign held an elaborate “policy round table” fund-raiser at a Washington hotel, featuring panel discussions run by lobbyists and former cabinet officials or members of Congress. James Talent, a former senator who runs the lobbying and public affairs firm Mercury Public Affairs, led a panel on infrastructure, according to an invitation. William Hansen, a former deputy secretary of education who is president of the lobbying firm Chartwell Education Group, led the education panel.
