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I'm told Cohen is extremely competent, but should Obama appoint someone who has spent the last few years supervising lobbyists fighting many of Obama's core beliefs? The few times Comcast lost – such as the throttling decision, one of Obama's campaign planks – they sued the government in order to tie up policy for years. I hope Cohen's competence doesn't extend to ensuring Obama's tech appointees are friends of his company. In 2004, Tom Tauke of Verizon was thought to have a veto over the FCC chair, and Tauke's early endorsement was crucial to Martin getting the job.

The telcos pay their top lobbyists over $2M a year, and they are very, very good. For months, while providing McCain strong support, they have been throwing millions to have influence with the Democrats who might win. AT&T's party at the Democratic convention was hidden but lavish; their contributions to Democrats were lavish, and they now presumably are ready to pay whatever it takes to get a powerful democrat to join them.

Obama is filling many of the transition posts with old D.C. hands, several of whom are lobbyists in any common sense of the word. Obama (whom I strongly support but will report accurately) and his team are politicians who made a disingenuous announcement “registered lobbyists” would be kept out of the transition (Bloomberg.) They know most lobbyists don't register, because the law is very narrow in it's coverage. If you are paid to regularly ask Congressmen to vote a particular way and the statue applies. If you are paid to influence Congressmen indirectly on a particular issue, there are major loopholes. A (former friend) who earns his living very effectively pushing the carrier agenda cursed me out for 15 minutes because I called him a lobbyist (he's not registered,) so I call him a “paid advocate” to avoid debates about the dictionary. Everyone in D.C. knows the game s played on this.

Henry Rivera, who doesn't register as a lobbyist, is a perfect example. He or someone he knows well told the press Rivera would lead Obama's FCC transition, although that became improbable by Tuesday. According to CNET, Rivera “lobbied for the Catholic Television Network in 2001 ... represented major wireless carriers, a local exchange carrier, and a major airline in FCC-related matters.” He is a senior partner at uber-lobbying law firm Wiley, Rein, which reported $3M in lobbying fees from clients including Verizon and AT&T. Wiley, Rein is so powerful they almost got through a clearly inappropriate subsidy in the millions for Verizon and Telmex. Anyone who thinks a Wiley, Fein partner is not in the government influence business probably believes the Potomac River at Washington is safe for young children to swim. Rivera's first suggestion for the FCC, Julia Johnson has withdrawn.

If Cohen receives a senior Obama position, folks on the street should put a (modest) buy on Comcast stock. Cohen presumably will donate any gains to charity. As Cohen became a big Obama supporter, folks like cable association head Kyle McSlarrow put everything they could into the McCain campaign. I doubt Kyle would play such a strong role if Comcast, his largest member, advised him it was inappropriate. Cable (and telco) money went to both sides.

During that period, the Los Angeles Times reported dubious lobbying practices by SBC and the Telecom Association, which were never disproved. USTA went after the reporter's job even though the story was probably accurate. Daley was always personally gracious to me and helped my reporting.

Another Obama person has recently been in charge of public policy at a company regulated by the FCC. I'm sure there are more. These are just the ones I found while working on something else.

Most lobbyists in telecom do not register, but instead present themselves as purely lawyers, corporate executives in policy positions, “strategy” and “public affairs” companies or “independents” and “non-profits” who make their living from the companies whose policies they champion and whose contributions are not clearly described. Some just ignore the rarely enforced lobbying rules.

Allowing lobbyists might be the right decision – Obama wants to work fast and assume power as quickly as possible. Someone like Rivera is highly skilled and knowledgeable. It's common practice. Ex-Senator Larry Pressler, on the Bush transition team, registered as a Verizion lobbyist. Most of the jobs in D.C. when people leave government are lobbying, and many of the qualified take lobbying positions. Ex-Senators Lott and Breaux lobbied for AT&T, as did former Attorney General Ashcroft, all knowledgeable insiders.

I've an ongoing disagreement with former FCC official I respect over my criticism of the lobbyist revolving door. He thought that was the only practical way to attract top staffers. I disagree, and I believe the calibre of those on my future FCC article shows how many qualified people are available.

(McCain had even more troubling connections. His campaign was run by Charlie Black and Rick Davis, who have not revealed details of the millions I believe they've received from AT&T or the work, some disguised, they performed.)