You see, that's just a downer. Here we are winning fight after fight, and along comes a Democrat clever enough to not hire from their entrenched pool of proven losers. Now we've got to take Senator Reid seriously.
Posted on 11/19/2004 8:28:38 PM PST by gab1279
Scores of soon-to-be-unemployed Democrats fear that their party’s electoral defeat could hinder their ability to find work on K Street, a traditional safe haven and source of employment for Capitol Hill staff.
At a time when many Democrats are anxious about their ability to earn a living, some even fear that a conspiracy to blacklist aides to certain Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), could be afoot.
Daschle, who is reviled by many congressional Republicans for his efforts to stop GOP initiatives and judicial nominees in the Senate, was defeated in this month’s election by former Rep. John Thune (R-S.D.).
Some Democrats, still singed by Sen. John Kerry’s defeat in the presidential election and party losses in the House and Senate, even suggested that House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) might be behind an effort to convince K Street firms to think twice before hiring Daschle staff.
Several Democratic aides said that a midsize Washington lobbying firm, the Alpine Group, declined last week to hire a Daschle staffer with whom the group had been in long-standing discussions about a possible job. They said the Daschle aide, who The Hill agreed not to name, believed he would get the job based on conversations with the firm about three months before the election.
According to one Senate aide familiar with the situation, the firm told the Daschle aide, “This is a cold town for Democrats. It’s especially cold for Daschle’s staff.” Asked whether DeLay or any of his associates had specifically conveyed a message to the firm, the Senate aide said, “The implication was that DeLay had put the word out that Daschle staff should not be hired.”
The Daschle aide did not contact The Hill about this story, nor did he return a call seeking comment. Daschle’s office declined to comment. None of the Democratic sources could name a specific DeLay associate who conveyed the message to the firm.
Nevertheless, anxiety among Capitol Hill Democrats was running so high last week that talk of a DeLay effort against Daschle staff spread to a number of Hill staff and Democratic lobbyists.
Several senior Senate Democratic aides and Democratic lobbyists contacted by The Hill were familiar with the situation involving the Daschle staffer and with talk on K Street that DeLay had discouraged hiring of Daschle aides.
“We have heard from two different Republican lobbyists that this is true,” said one Senate Democratic aide. The aide cited the “K Street Project,” an effort to get firms to eschew Democrats and hire Republicans to top posts at major Washington associations, and reported GOP efforts to punish the Motion Picture Association of America for hiring former Clinton administration Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman as its head, saying the efforts had deliberately created a sense of paranoia on K Street against hiring Democrats.
However, some Democratic sources were questioning whether there was any such organized effort.
DeLay spokesman Stuart Roy said, “Tom DeLay has been the subject of more urban myths than Karl Rove, Elvis and Mikey from Life cereal combined.
“The patently false rumor du jour is that the leader somehow ‘sent the word’ to K Street not to hire defeated Senator Tom Daschle’s staff. My request to any journalist who wishes to print such completely untrue gossip is to consider the source and then ask anonymous accusers trafficking in this rumor exactly who on our staff has sent out such a message. We wish all former Daschle staffers full employment.” [SNIP]
Democratic job-seekers face an acute problem this year, with numerous Hill staffers who worked for Kerry’s campaign now looking for work. Most of Daschle’s leadership staff also is on the market, with few places to secure a soft landing. New Democratic “527” groups are expected to ramp down now that the election is over. [SNIP]
One of the few people hiring Democrats in town is incoming Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.). But Reid plans to bring in his own people, according to aides.
Read more at hillnews.com...
And Tom DeLay's response to "The Hill" about this story...
From House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas):
The Hill’s Nov. 16 story “Dems fear lobbying backlash” simply isn’t true. It’s not a “miscommunication,” or “he said/she said,” or “open to interpretation.” It’s a fabrication. You were lied to and used by those very same liars.
The story — if I followed it correctly — “reports” on the “fear” of “certain Democrats” of a “conspiracy” that I “might be behind” to “blacklist” on K Street soon-to-be-unemployed staffers of defeated Sen. Tom Daschle [D-S.D.].
Not to put too fine a point on it, but are you kidding me?
The Hill didn’t get spun on this one; you got played. You were lied to and leapt at the chance to print the lies. The sad thing is that this was not just an example of journalistic integrity breaking down. It was that this particular lie was so juicy, so dishy, that it just “deserved to be true.”
Ultimately, the truth was nothing more than a distraction that might get in the way of an irresistible rumor.
Is it too much to ask that an allegation with as many possible ramifications as this one have some level of verification? No news organization with serious aspirations should allow itself to be used by transparently self-interested rumor mongers.
You see, that's just a downer. Here we are winning fight after fight, and along comes a Democrat clever enough to not hire from their entrenched pool of proven losers. Now we've got to take Senator Reid seriously.
May I ask why these Dem losers think they are entitled to a cushy job when people all over the country are trying to find work to feed their families? By the way, discrimination on the basis of politics is not against the law because there are no laws covering this area. They need to be treated just like any other fired employee looking for a job.
Why in the world is The Hill reporting unsubstantiated GOSSIP?? Have they also taken the low road with the major networks and the NY Times?
So, these neocommunist, anti-Americans have been working to destroy America and our way of life and now we are supposed to consider them to be competitive employees? The crapweasel dems are still delusional!!!
November 2, 2004 election results:
U. S. Representative District 22
Tom DeLay(I) REP 150,386 55.16%
Richard R. Morrison DEM 112,034 41.09%
Tom Morrison LIB 4,886 1.79%
Michael Fjetland IND 5,314 1.94%
My thoughts exactly. Go home and get a real job.
When conservatives lose an election, they go back to work in the private sector. When RATS lose an election, they find another government job.
It's a truism of RAT politics...you don't win, you don't eat.
Daschle losing is why his staff isn't being hired.
The number one qualification of a Daschle staffer is that he knows Daschle.
Today, knowing Daschle and a quarter will buy you a phone call. If Daschle were still minority leader, it's a difference story. But he's not. buh bye.
I love DeLay....in a non homo way.
He is an hombre.
They're democRATs. They don't believe in consequences OR in accepting responsibility for their decisions. It has to be someone else's fault and someone else's responsibility. ALWAYS!
Guess they hate him as much we hated Daschle.
Or as much as they hate Newt!!!
Captain - take a cold shower & turn off Air America.
I'd agree with you 100%, but that position is politically correct these days. ;-)
oops..is NOT politically correct...
Look I said the same thing about Newt a few years back when the left was on him about something.
If Delay went over the line then we can't be changing the rules to protect him and his job.
Same thing the Dems were doing when Jim Wright was Speaker.
Delay needs to save us all a lot grief and just retire and step down and take any issue the Dems might have away with him.
Did you see DeLay's response to his ethics victory today, surrounded by a phalanx of top GOP Reps? The gloves are off. The Democrats should be afraid, VERY afraid. DeLay will command a more disciplined and focused House leadership than has ever existed.
Boo-hoo-hoo!
Why on earth should any K Street lobbying firm hire an ex-Daschle staffer anyway? The man with whom such an ex-staffer might be presumed to have any influence (i.e., Daschle) is no longer in the Senate. And, overall, Democratic influence in the Senate just decreased by 8 percent.
Democrats are a smaller minority in the Senate than at any time since 1996 and -- given what some have called the "natural majority" of 62 GOP Senate seats (2 seats for every "red" state won by Bush) -- it is highly unlikely that Democrats will regain their majority anytime before 2008 (and even that scenario would depend on Hillary's "coattails").
Former Democratic Senate aides are quite nearly useless to any K Street lobbying firm nowadays. The only power Senate Democrats have now is (a) to filibuster; (b) to "demand an investigation" into any allegations of GOP wrongdoing; and (c) to b!tch and moan to the media. None of that is any help to a business lobby trying to get favorable treatment from the federal government.
Also (not mentioned in this Hill article): With larger majorities now, House and Senate Republicans in the next Congress may ask for a larger share of committee seats and a reduction in Democratic committee staff. So that's more prospective Dem staff unemployment.
All and all, being an ex-Democratic staffer in DC now is like being the last kid standing in a game of musical chairs. The consequences of Democrats' shrinking influence in Washington -- and the small likelihood the Dems will recapture any branch of government before 2008 (or even then) -- is finally coming home to roost 10 years after the Republican Revolution of '94. About d@mn time, too!
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