IN the last week before Congress closed down for summer vacation, tensions were high. GOP leaders were facing high-stakes House votes on a patients’ bill of rights and President Bush’s energy bill; they had to pick their fights very carefully, because there was little margin for miscalculation. But they decided to bring up one particular contentious issue— cloning—and risk a humiliating defeat on it, based on a single lobbyist’s assurance that they would win the crucial vote. A top GOP aide explains that only one outsider has earned that level of confidence. After the nerve-racking winning tally, the aide declared: “That settles it. Doug Johnson is the best lobbyist in town.”
The supposed access and influence bought by big money—the stuff of nightmares among would-be campaign-finance reformers—pale by comparison with Johnson’s clout. Since 1981, when he was named legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), Douglas Johnson has been building relationships, voting profiles, media files, and a level of influence that money can’t buy. A former House staffer, who was used to lobbyists jostling each other to pick up her restaurant tabs, worked closely with Johnson for four years and laughingly recalls, “I don’t think Doug ever bought me a cup of coffee.”
Comments