Plugging In to D.C.

What the firm didn't say was that four of its employees, including Art Roberts, had given Campbell campaign contributions in October, all on the same date, totaling $1,188. When asked about this confluence of events, Campbell takes umbrage. "There's no rule or regulation about when or who or how [the lobbyists] give," the senator says. "The fact of the matter is that whether they are there or not, I'm not going to do anything unless Paul Tauer asks me."

Still, between 1995 and 1997, the Jefferson Group gave Campbell more than any other member of the Colorado delegation: $2,688 all told. Not that the Jefferson Group has limited its generosity to Campbell. Overall, between 1995 and 1997, the firm's PAC and employees contributed $109,300 to federal candidates and parties, including nearly $7,000 to members of the Colorado delegation.

The web of connections and contributions that binds politicians to lobbyists raises questions even among some lobbyists.

"Just because that's the way it's been done doesn't mean it's right," says Jim Seeley, director of the City of Los Angeles's lobbying office in Washington. A city employee, he says he uses that fact as an excuse not to contribute to campaigns when members of Congress ask him. "That's the thing that seduces some cities," he says. "When businessmen or -women become city officials, their experience is, that's how you get something done: You have to contribute to get attention. Maybe they get it done faster, to the public good. But there's a tradeoff here."

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