Washington Whispers
Facing Waxman, the Goal Is Survival
How many lawyers, lobbyists, and publicists does it take to plug a congressional investigation? Thankfully for Washington's K Street, a heck of a lot. With 460 full committee and subcommittee oversight hearings having already taken place in just the House since January, the legal business is exploding to handle the new business sparked by the Democratic takeover in Congress and one chairman in particular: Rep. Henry Waxman, head of the Oversight and Government Reform panel. "We call it the 'Waxman Industrial Complex,'" says one lobbyist. "It's a little bit like being a kid in a candy store," Abbe Lowell of McDermott Will & Emery says.
Unlike a normal court, Hill hearings pose a web of problems for the defense, drug, energy, and financial firms now under the microscope. "Nobody wins," says Ty Cobb of Hogan & Hartson. "The goal is survival." A slip-up by a CEO, and the stock could plummet, business dry up, and jittery workers leave. PR agencies are brought in to help save a company's image. "Headlines happen to a lot of people," says Dale Leibach, head of Prism Public Affairs, a PR firm, "but most of our best work never appears." Being Washington, connections count. Lowell, who has worked for Democrats and defended shamed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, says "you can't substitute for knowing people."
Bloomberg's 'Rove' Also His Party Guy
Kevin Sheekey isn't just New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's political guru pushing him to run for president as an independent. He's also the mayor's image-maker and party guy. We've learned that it was Sheekey who dreamed up the now famous Bloomberg Party that caps events surrounding the annual star-studded White House Correspondents' Association dinner every spring. The very day Vanity Fair announced it was dropping its sponsorship, Sheekey moved in. His goal: Raise the profile of Bloomberg News. At the time, 2000, Bloomberg wasn't mayor. "Sheekey's like Karl Rove and Michael Deaver all in one," says one ally, in a reference to President Bush's political boss and Reagan's image-maker.
Obama's Plan Is Coming Together
It shouldn't have surprised Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama or top aides when he won the Politico straw poll after giving a passionate, even inspirational speech at a convention of progressives. That's because despite his repeated statements that he wouldn't run for president—several times since his 2004 Senate election—a new book says he planned his White House bid the day he came to Washington. "The plan," writes Chicago Tribune author David Mendell, was meant to put Obama in the best position if he wanted to run in 2008. It's obviously worked, though aides say we're reading too much into Mendell's well-researched report on "the plan."
Before Fox, He Was the Evil 'Eggnog'
Now known as the Washington face of Fox News, Brit Hume back in the 1970s was a staffer for muckraker Jack Anderson. We hear that when the CIA releases its secret files on covert actions, like spying on Anderson's staff, Hume's code name will be revealed: "Eggnog." It must have been boring for the spies, he says. "I was clean for once back then!"
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