Reading the election tea leaves: Lobbyists bet Democrats will win in November

By Diane Silver

Cross your fingers and hold your breath, but there's yet another sign that Democrats might score a significant victory in November. Lobbyists seem to be betting on some kind of Democratic victory.

The Washington Post reports today:

Washington lobbying firms, trade associations and corporate offices are moving to hire more well-connected Democrats in response to rising prospects that the opposition party will wrest control of at least one chamber of Congress from Republicans in the November elections.

In what lobbyists are calling a harbinger of possible upheaval on Capitol Hill, many who make a living influencing government have gone from mostly shunning Democrats to aggressively recruiting them as lobbyists over the past six months or so.

Personally, I'm approaching this election like a jaded Charlie Brown. Like the hapless Charlie of Peanuts comic fame, I feel like Lucy has pulled the football away far too often for me to trust that the ball will be there when I want to kick it, or that Democrats can actually win in November.

The Post article declares that this marks the end the infamous K Street Project, Republican-speak for chilling Democrats out of the lobbying industry. We shall see.