K Street Creativity

By Alicia McBride on 08/22/2011 @ 12:34 PM

Tags: Lobbying

The challenges of reaching the 12 members of the "supercommittee" charged with cutting the budget are, according to a recent Politico article over the weekend, leading K Street lobbying firms to branch out with their strategies.

The article notes that "Lobby shops and their clients are fast realizing that a full frontal assault on Congress’s budget-slashing supercommittee may not be a fruitful strategy," and that the situation "may force lobbyists to use indirect techniques to impress clients’ messages upon supercommittee members."

What might these "indirect" and "creative" solutions be? One lobbyist gives examples: "Grass-roots, grass-tops — don't just approach the D.C. office, go to the district offices, too. There will be a media aspect to it — you're going to see some interesting campaigns."

It's heartening that these high-powered, influential lobbying firms are recognizing the value of these lobbying techniques, and it's true that this is not the way that they usually operate. However, I wouldn't call this a new idea (see here and here, and, well, just about everything FCNL writes for more on why these kinds of techniques are influential.)