Cross-posted from The Stakeholder.
This is brutal...
House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of K Street [WaPo]
Working outside the glare of public attention, Blunt has maximized the organization's influence by delegating authority to Washington business and trade association lobbyists to help negotiate deals with individual House members to produce majorities on important issues.
Blunt's organization in scope has begun to rival "DeLay Inc." -- the political fundraising committees, extensive favor-giving and alliances with Republican lobbyists that the majority leader has used to become one of the most influential leaders in memory.
Business and trade association lobbyists representing a broad range of corporate interests have used their leverage in lawmakers' districts to persuade them to cast difficult votes for Republican budgets and against politically popular Democratic amendments.
These lobbyists are "willing to work with leadership, in a broad generic way . . . [and] we have a commitment from them to whip the vote on the outside," said Gregg Hartley, who ran the operation for Blunt until going to K Street himself.
Building 'Blunt Inc.'
Blunt, 55, was handpicked by DeLay in 1999 to become chief deputy whip and then assumed the majority whip's post in 2003 after DeLay became majority leader. Blunt has been a loyal defender of DeLay, despite the majority leader's mounting ethics problems.
Many lawmakers and political analysts agree that Blunt would probably succeed DeLay if the majority leader were forced to step down. Blunt declined to comment for this article. One of his aides said Blunt refused to be interviewed "because he supports Tom DeLay and believes DeLay will remain majority leader."
DeLay, in turn, said: "Roy Blunt has done a tremendous job. . . . His leadership is vital to our cause."
Both "Blunt Inc." and "DeLay Inc." reflect the growing importance of commanding multimillion-dollar funds and having reliable loyalists in Washington's lobbying community. Blunt and DeLay are fundraising powerhouses. Their political organizations use multiple fundraising committees, have rewarded family members and have provided an avenue to riches for former aides now in the private sector.
In Missouri, the Blunt organization is a family affair. His son Matt, 34, is governor, and his son Andrew, 29, is a top state government lobbyist whose client list is studded with major donors to his father.
Here in Washington, Blunt has converted what had been an informal and ad hoc relationship between congressional leaders and the Washington corporate and trade community into a formal, institutionalized alliance. Lobbyists are now an integral part of the Republican whip operation on par with the network of lawmakers who serve as assistant whips.
Blunt began moving up the leadership ladder two years after taking office in 1997. A former Missouri secretary of state, Blunt was chosen by DeLay to become chief deputy whip after House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) voiced concern that there "was a vacuum in the outreach to K Street," Hartley said. Blunt was given the responsibility for the day-to-day meetings with lobbyists and for targeting members wavering in their votes on specific bills, said Hartley, who is now a lobbyist with Cassidy & Associates.
In effect, Blunt, in his second term, became the House GOP's key liaison with the lobbyists who not only represent clients in virtually every member's district, but also direct the flow of individual and political action committee contributions from the 1,600 corporations and 1,200 trade associations with PACs.
Let's elaborate on that "family affair" business. You see, not only is Matt Blunt now the governor, he was the secretary of state for his own race, as well as his father's. And did he play it straight? What do you think?
An Umpire Taking Sides
[NYT Editorial - July 9, 2004]
Elections should not be managed by partisan politicians. Right now, a major flaw in the American electoral system is that the top election officers in most states are men and women who are publicly rooting for the Democratic or Republican side. This year in Missouri, it's hard to imagine that voters can have great confidence in the objectivity of the secretary of state, Matt Blunt, who is active in the Bush-Cheney campaign and is himself a candidate for governor. He has insisted on staying on the job, and he has ruled on important election matters in ways that help his own campaign.
[...]
One of Missouri's biggest political battles this year has been over scheduling a referendum to ban gay marriage. Republicans wanted it on the ballot in November so it would draw conservatives to the presidential and gubernatorial elections. But Governor Holden, who is responsible for setting the date, scheduled it for August, the next time state voters would go to the polls. In a letter to the governor, Mr. Blunt challenged the decision and implied that he would insist on pushing the vote to November.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled, 6 to 1, against Mr. Blunt. The majority opinion, which was joined by two justices appointed by John Ashcroft when he was governor, held that Mr. Blunt had no right to "frustrate the governor's constitutional authority" to choose the date of the election.
Right now, Mr. Blunt is trying to stop St. Louis from holding early voting this fall. The Missouri legislature voted to join the majority of states that allow voters to cast ballots in advance of Election Day. St. Louis -- where many voters were wrongly prevented from voting in 2000 because of the incompetence of election officials -- announced plans for early voting, a move that would give eligible voters a better chance of making sure that their ballots were properly cast. Republicans have opposed early voting in the city, which has a large black population and votes overwhelmingly Democratic.
Mr. Blunt is trying to stop the St. Louis plan, decreeing that although the new law generally calls for early voting, it does not authorize it to occur this year. That conflicts with the interpretation of the law's bipartisan sponsors, who told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the law allows St. Louis to vote early if the city picks up the extra cost, which it has agreed to do. The state attorney general, who is likely to be asked for his views, should support St. Louis's effort to allow early voting.
There is one group, however, that Mr. Blunt is going to extraordinary lengths to help vote -- and it is one that usually votes Republican. He is allowing soldiers in combat zones to vote by fax, even though election officials will be able to read the ballots as they come in. Mr. Blunt's willingness to abandon the secret ballot, one of the most important safeguards of American democracy, is troubling. It is all the more so when the voters are members of the military who are being asked to vote for or against their commander in chief.
But it didn't end there...
Rep. Blunt's son aided by donors from out-of-state
[The Hill - July 9, 2003]
Many of the contributors seemingly lacked a direct interest in the down-ballot state race but had significant interests pending before Matt Blunt's father.[...]
Missouri state records show contributions to Matt Blunt's campaign came from firms and individuals with business pending before Roy Blunt's subcommittees. Although some of the companies have significant interests in the state, others do not.[...]
Top executives at Freddie Mac, for example, contributed $4,000 to his campaign. On Nov. 6, 2000, Senior Vice President Gary Lanzara and Vice President Lelan Brendsel gave $1,000 each. Two weeks later, Freddie Mac lobbyist David Glenn and his wife, Cherie, also contributed $1,000 apiece. Cherie is listed as a homemaker; the couple reside in Great Falls, Va.[...]
By far the biggest outside contributors to Matt Blunt's campaign, however, were colleagues of Roy Blunt. Campaign finance documents show 84 House lawmakers made 95 contributions to the secretary of state campaign, totaling more than $65,000.
Doesn't exactly sound like it would be a "fresh start," does it? Especially after Blunt took center stage at the salute to influence peddling the other night. The rank and file know it too - if DeLay goes down, I expect you'll find a great many of them want to get a lot cleaner than Blunt can get them.
And by the way, you know who else is in Missouri? The good CEOs at the indicted Westar. See what has become of Missouri business under the Blunt watch...