The Swing Street Strategy

"That's not very wise ... People are aware that this has happened. It's going to be treated seriously," warned GOP strategist Grover Norquist, incensed that biotech company Amgen hired a former senior Al Gore aide to lobby for them. Norquist's "K Street Project," 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.