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Lott the Lobbyist Would Be 'Very Valuable Commodity,' Duke Professor Says

"If you hire Lott the lobbyist, you are buying access, the most important coin of Washington politics," says political scientist Michael Munger

Some Washington observers are speculating that Trent Lott is leaving the Senate now to avoid an upcoming restriction that bars lawmakers from taking a lobbying job for two years after they leave public service, instead of the current one-year wait.

Lott on Monday did not specify what his plans were once he leaves the Senate, saying only that he was going to move into the private sector after 35 years in Congress. But his decision does raise several questions, including whether it is more financially lucrative to be a lobbyist than a senator, says a Duke University political scientist.

"The current pay for senators is $162,500 (some officers, such as majority and minority leader, get a little more). If you have to maintain two households, and spend as much time traveling as a senator does, that is not that much money," said Michael Munger, chair of Duke's political science department.

"A typical lobbyist makes just under $100,000 per year, but that varies widely. For a top Senate aide, with connections, starting pay as a lobbyist could be more than $300,000. And for a recent ex-senator and long-time majority leader, the number might be more like a million."

Munger has written or edited four books, including "Ideology and the Theory of Political Choice" (University of Michigan Press, 1994), "Analytical Politics" (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and "Analyzing Policy: Choices, Conflicts and Practices" (W.W. Norton, 2000). He testified before the U.S. Senate Rule & Administration Committee in 2000 on campaign finance reform, and studies the policy effects of political contributions and lobbying.

"The reason that Lott's lobbying services will be so valuable, in the next five years at least, is that he knows other senators directly and intimately," Munger said. "If you hire Lott the lobbyist, you are buying access, the most important coin of Washington politics. Senators will take his phone calls. Also, he knows staff in agencies, and he knows a lot of folks in the House. He is worth a little less because the Republicans are in the minority, and seem likely to lose the White House by the time he can begin lobbying a year from now. But still, his contacts and name make him a very valuable commodity." Munger believes that lobbyists have a bad reputation with the public that is largely undeserved. "Bribery is a bad thing. Theft is a bad thing. But lobbying, by and large, improves the democratic process. Most good lobbyists, the ones who are effective, know that their reputations are the key to success.

"Senators, and even Senate staffers, are just too busy to study bills. They want to know how they should vote, what they should worry about. Lobbyists on both sides do an awful lot of the work of vetting and evaluating legislation. They have the data, and the reasons that legislation will be popular, or unpopular, in a particular state. "It is true that Lott will be able to gain access simply because he is known. But he will have an impact only if he provides useful information and tells the truth, just like any other top lobbyist."