Cahill and Mehlman connected to same lobbying firm- small world

[Rose Siding]

snip>
Mr. Vogel opened his lobbying firm eight months ago, teaming with Bruce Mehlman, a former assistant secretary for technology policy at the Commerce Department and brother of Ken Mehlman, manager of the 2004 Bush campaign, presumptive new chairman of the Republican Party and one of the most celebrated figures at inaugural events all over town.

"I'll be spending more time as a brother than as a lobbyist, looking to celebrate with friends with whom I served in the administration, and worry about pushing policy the week after," Bruce Mehlman said.

Their firm, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti, has other family ties to the political world. Mr. Vogel's wife, Jill Holtzman Vogel, is the top lawyer at the Republican National Committee. Ann Castagnetti, the wife of David Castagnetti, the firm's Democratic partner, is the sister of Mary Beth Cahill, Senator John Kerry's campaign manager.

http://nytimes.com/2005/01/17/politics/17lobbyists.html?hp&ex=1105938000&en=d4b10ec3b8187e2a&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Maybe this doesn't come as a surprise to any Washington insiders
and I'm not even drawing any specific conclusions, but if someone were writing a novel about political intrigue this could be in it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Connect the dots.

Are you saying that Kerry's campaign person belongs to a Lobby group that is AC/DC?

(Too tired to piece it together tonight, so just the Cliff Notes, please.)

[DaveinMD]

2. lobbying firms hire people from both sides

so they can have high access to both sides. No conspiracy here.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. It is a big deal because we lost. Everything becomes suspect

and remember, Bush's method doesn't trust anyone but party loyalist. Maybe it's because they know how easy it is to infiltrate groups that are not mono-political.

[itzamirakul]

3. I always knew there was something fishy about

Cahill. Right in the midst of the Swift Boat madness, she was sending out emails inviting all of us to host debate-watching parties. I sent her a strong email and told her to leave the party-planning to moveon and to get busy on the elction.

She made big bucks for doing what? For insuring that Kerry lost this race.

There is too much incest in DC.

[The Flaming Red Head]

5. They're all like that

No democracy here. Move along now.

[AP]

6. This is like Kissinger McClarty -- lots of these firms work for

Dems and Republicans. They have both Dems and Republicans as partners so they can maximize the potential client base.

I'm not saying it doesn't make me sick to my stomach that someone who worked so closely with Clinton would then work with Kissinger, but Dem-Repub partnerships happen all the time.

And blaming MBC because her sister is married to a Dem in one of these partnerships is a little tenuous.

I'm sure she has actually friends who are Republicans who are higher up in the power structure with whom she talks more than her Democratic brother-in-law, and I'm sure that nobody would try to hang her because of those relationships. So why hang her with this one?

[w4rma]

7. Hang her because she's a loser, instead. (nt)

[Rose Siding]

8. No one's trying to hang anyone

(I tried to make that clear- "...I'm not even drawing any specific conclusions)

It is worth knowing about, though. It's important to emphasize how interconnected the current system of politics is, especially as the party is in the process of debating reform.

Hopefully, the reform we get moves us away from access being purchased by just these sorts of lobbyist firms, at the expense of access for broader interests.