By: Stephen Hagenbuch

When he began his career in the comptroller’s office of Ohio Bell 40 years ago, Chuck Crowders dreamed of becoming the district manager in charge of filing the phone company’s federal income taxes.

He never imagined he would help develop those very tax policies — or that he would discuss flat tax proposals with aides to then-Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) or with Grover Norquist, the founder of Americans for Tax Reform. But that’s exactly what he has done.

Crowders is not your typical lobbyist who spent years learning the ropes as a congressional aide. 

Yet many firms employ lobbyists who have never had jobs or even internships on Capitol Hill. Call them the outside insiders. They have the specialized knowledge that’s key to massaging the legislative process — even in the absence of ostensibly essential “insider contacts.”

“I didn’t know anything at all about being a lobbyist when they transferred me here,” said Crowders, who now works part time at Bockorny Group. “It was kind of an experiment that worked out.”

AT&T, the parent company of Ohio Bell, transferred Crowders to Washington about 15 years ago to work in government affairs. Immediately, he began to lobby on labor and health care issues — two policy areas in which he had no background.

In fact, he had never worked in public policy, and adapting was a challenge.

“I aligned myself with strong people who knew how to lobby,” he said. “When I went with coalitions to lobby, I went with people who’d been here for years. I’d watch them, and I found out which attributes they had that were effective.”

His observations proved invaluable.

“Having relationships is important,” said Nancy Donaldson, a Dutko Worldwide lobbyist who has never worked on the Hill. “But people want you to give them some value, expert advice, access to information you need. That’s what I think matters; that’s who Hill staff need to work with.”

“They can figure out pretty quickly if you’re helpful,” she said, “or if you’re just taking up their time.”

She said her lack of Hill experience hasn’t mattered when she has worked closely with members on issues they care about, especially as an advocate for nuclear nonproliferation in the 1980s.

“I was trained by the best,” Donaldson said, mentioning former Rep. Thomas J. Downey (D-N.Y.), who held strategy meetings on arms control that Donaldson and other lobbyists attended. She even remembers circulating Dear Colleague letters right outside the House floor, “back when it didn’t have as much security.”

She later went to work for the Downey McGrath Group, a lobbying firm founded by Downey, saying the key to her success has been her strong interest in public policy. “There’s not much I can give them except the things I care about,” she said, explaining that she has become an expert on her clients’ issues because she is enmeshed in them.

Donaldson works with a 25-year-old associate at Dutko, Dave Korkoian, who had never even been inside a Hill office building before starting at the firm. But he had worked at a nongovernmental organization in Ghana and at the U.S. Embassy in Uganda. And that background exposed him to issues that many of his international clients are interested in — and made him more effective, too.

“It is one thing to show that a trade program supports the U.S. economy and supports high-quality union jobs abroad,” Korkoian said, “but it’s cherries on top to say you have been to the factory.”

He called the Hill a “steep learning curve.” But his outsider status has its advantages. “When you’re going on the Hill with, or on behalf of, a client, you can be comfortable getting a meeting knowing that you have a substantive argument to make, not just because you used to work with him or her,” he said.

Still, career advisers caution that these are exceptions that prove the rule that Hill experience is invaluable.

“People should learn the basics from the horse’s mouth,” said Mag Gottlieb, career director at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. “It’s one thing to go to Civics 101, but it’s quite another to learn how things work from the inside out.”

She counsels aspiring lobbyists to work in state legislatures, work in Congress and become lawyers. Though some bypass these traditional rules, she said, it’s harder for employers to take candidates seriously if their résumés don’t list significant Washington experience.

And most lobbyists who plugged away on the Hill for years might agree.

Paddy Link, a senior vice president at Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates, spent decades working in congressional committees and member offices and served a stint in the Commerce Department during the Reagan administration.

“Obviously, it depends on what kind of lobbying you’re going into,” she said. “But I think that if you want to give clients strategic advice, it’s often very helpful to know the rules of both the House and the Senate and how the executive branch works.”

Much of her work involves agencies, and her administration experience gave her an up-close view of how, for instance, the general counsels and the White House Office of Management and Budget influence decision making.

“I have all this crazy obscure stuff running around in my brain,” she said, “and sometimes it’s actually useful for some of what I work with.”

But Link, like other lobbyists interviewed, downplayed the importance of developing working relationships with members and congressional staff because turnover is high and, besides, you can’t even take anyone out to lunch these days.

Instead, lobbyists credit their success to deep knowledge of the issues, which people can gain in any number of ways.

As Crowders said, “lots of lobbyists would have to go back to their clients if staff asked them a policy question. I knew the issues from having worked in them for years. And that’s why lots of staff enjoyed working with me.”

Copyright © 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC | Distributed by Noofangle Media