There’s an interesting piece by Anna Palmer and Elizabeth Titus up at Politico about the disproportionately Republican affiliations on K Street these days, a bit of an anomaly at a time when the Executive Branch and the Senate are controlled by Democrats.
One reason for the tilt, it seems, is that the lobbyist guild bought the spin of its GOP friends and anticipated a very different outcome to the 2012 elections:
The bias toward hiring Republicans was on display over the past two years when corporations and trade groups continued to bet on Romney and Republican chances of taking back the Senate when making hiring decisions and in choosing to retain their top GOP talent.
Glad to see these highly compensated wizards knew how to predict elections.
But there’s another reason for the tilt, too, that should please progressives more than schadenfreude over spoiled expectations of a Mitt Romney Washington:
There are also many industries — such as oil, financial services and health care — that a significant number of Democrats are unwilling to represent. It’s not unheard-of for companies like ExxonMobil to wait months before finding a Democrat who is the right fit for a senior-level job.
Democrats leaving the Obama White House have also been more reluctant than previous administrations of either party to join the influence-peddling ranks.
“There doesn’t seem as big of a desire to work for business and corporate offices as the last administration,” Adler said.
