Why do Lobbyists have a bad name?

There is something sexy about it. Hanging out in a lobby to convince people that you are right. It is kind of like going to a bar and convincing a person to be interested in you.

There are literally thousands of government scandals that have nothing to do with lobbyists, but for some reason, opposition politicians in general, and Presidential/Senatorial/Gubernatorial/ and Congressional candidates are all susceptible to criticism if they are even friends with people who, literally, try to convince the government to do something.

This week, and last, the media seems focused on two particular bad things: doing fundraisers for Cabinet Ministers who are being lobbied by the organizers and lobbyists saying they have privileged access.

In both cases, the lobbyists in question are doing stupid things if they are actually doing it. I wonder, however, if they are actually doing the things that the media is claiming that they are doing. I dare you to find a profession where some asshole fucked up and it didn't tar the whole industry. Wait a second- doctors fuck up all the time!

The sad truth is that we are easy targets, because for the most part, we are well paid advocates who very much understand the system we work in. Shitty for the truth, but yes - in a billable hour world, we do ok. There are over 4,500 of us who are registered, not to mention the illegal lobbyists who don't register.

Are we attractive targets to a larger audience who doesn't understand what we do? Sure.

Are some lobbyists more attractive as targets than others? Absolutely.

But, as I have said before, I am 100% sure that we could replace the word "Lobbyist" with the word "journalist" and instead of an indictment, we would have a new "Senator." Journalists lobby on issues way harder than any lobbyist does.

Or, more to the point, replace the world "Lobbyist" with the word "Premier" and you would have an Ambassador in the making. Provincial Premiers do more work in Ottawa than I could dream of doing. In some cases, they are actually the Leader of the Opposition (C - Afdannystan, L - Chia-rest). That was a pun, get it?

Finally, replace the word "Lobbyist" with the word "Minister" and you will have what I call "a Cabinet meeting." These Ministers are themselves lobbyists for the sectors they are slated to represent.

All of the above just do it for a different master. We are an easy target because we choose to play a direct role in public policy formulation and it is seen a unseemly to be caught in bed with one.

I guess we don't deserve the rights a journalist has because "they protect the public good."

Poppycock.