"That's not very wise ... People are aware that this has happened. It's going to be treated seriously," warned GOP strategist Grover Norquist [3], incensed that biotech company Amgen hired a former senior Al Gore [4] aide to lobby for them. Norquist's "K Street Project [5]," launched in 1995 to reward loyal Republican lobbyists with access to influential officials, may be weakening as lobby firms hire Democrats to balance GOP-heavy rosters, reports the Washington Post. With the outcome of the November elections uncertain, "there is some bet-hedging going on" via Democratic hires, said a partner at the major Washington DC lobbying firm Patton Boggs [6].