In particular, K Street has sought to convince members of the Blue Dog Coalition, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the New Democrats to back Dingell against Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
"Lobbyists are doing intelligence gathering, talking to lawmakers they are on a first-name relationship basis with," said one lobbyist, who has made calls to drum up support for Dingell...
Since he was first elected in 1955 to fill the seat of his father, Rep. John Dingell Sr. (D-Mich.), the younger Dingell has amassed a formidable K Street presence.
His network spans the health care, energy, manufacturing and telecom industry sectors.
Dingell has forged strong ties with former senior aides-turned-lobbyists, including John Orlando of CBS Corp., Ryan Modlin at the National Association of Manufacturers, Marda Robillard of Van Scoyoc Associates, and Alan Roth of US Telecom. He's also close to Reid Stuntz of Hogan & Hartson and solo practitioner Michael Barrett...
"It strikes us that Chairman Dingell is more likely coming from Detroit to have a sensitivity to the current economic plight of the country when he looks at the various serious issues before the committee than Mr. Waxman, who is from Beverly Hills," NMA spokesman Luke Popovich said.
The Sportsmen's and Animal Owners' Voting Alliance has also come out in support of Dingell. In an e-mail blast to more than 22,000 members, SAOVA urged its grass-roots network to contact their Member of Congress about what they argue is an important voice of moderation.
"He's a voice of moderation where the large California cabal is scary as hell," said Bob Kane, chairman emeritus of SAOVA.
Hoyer, who is allied with Dingell ideologically but owes Waxman for his Majority leader status is attempting to mediate the dispute. I've spoken with about five or six people close to the dispute, the basic sense I have is that Dingell's got better political skills and Waxman is highly respected. The green groups are staying out of the fight, and one of Dingell's main arguments is that Waxman is an unabashed progressive partisan who can't get anything done whereas Dingell's more practical and can work across the aisle. This is obviously not true, but the contours of the fight are organized around the fears of Capitol Hill insiders, and they dislike liberals.
Regardless, my sense is that Dingell, if he retains the chairmanship, will be forced to move more progressive legislation, so this challenge has been a net positive so far.
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