Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.bonus,americast.usa-today.bonus From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: bonus Thu, Aug 20 1992 Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 04:20:23 EDT Message-ID: 08-20 0000 BONUS: Corporations politicize partying USA TODAY Update Aug. 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Do corporate fat cats have a stranglehold on Washington and the statehouses? How could they - they're all in Houston. If 1992 is the year of voter outrage against the influence of special interests on government, you wouldn't know it from the festive atmosphere at the Republican National Convention. ARE CORPORATE MONEY AND MINGLING PREVALENT IN HOUSTON? Texas Rep. Tom Craddick polished off his french toast in a vintage rail car Wednesday morning just as House Minority Leader Robert Michel teed off with 60 friends. Corporate sponsors paid for both Craddick's breakfast near the Astrodome and the "Bob Michel Leadership Challenge" at nearby Kingwood Country Club. At more than 500 parties, receptions, galas, tributes, salutes, fiestas and other free feeds, GOP party animals are mingling with corporate lobbyists and executives amid the scent of hickory barbecue, the chill of the shrimp buffet and the unchecked flow of alcohol at the margarita-dispensing cactus. What is missing is any sense of irony. WHAT DO CORPORATIONS SEEK WITH THESE EVENTS? "It's relationship-building," says Vaughn Aldredge, a spokesman for AT&T, which paid for Michel's golf outing. "We consider him very influential on our issues, and we very much appreciate having his ear when the time comes for a floor vote or a key piece of business that affects AT&T." "It's good will and thanking people for the long association they've had with the company," says Gary Schuster , a vice president at Union Pacific, which held a breakfast honoring Craddick, a Midland, Texas, Republican legislator who serves on the energy committee in the Texas House. DO CORPORATE OFFICIALS EVER WEAR POLITICAL HATS? Union Pacific, a railroad and oil-producing company, is entertaining its guests on a rail spur right outside the Astrodome, where it has moored 15 refurbished 1950s-era rail cars and the world's largest operating steam locomotive. In addition to his role as host, Union Pacific Chairman Drew Lewis, who served as transportation secretary during the Reagan administration, wears another hat: He is a Pennsylvania delegate. DOES ANYONE EVER DISAPPROVE? Not everyone wants the GOP to party hearty. What political pros call "soft lobbying," is "stark evidence of the failure of people in government to understand how angry and repulsed citizens in this country are by the huge amounts of money spent to buy influence," says Fred Wertheimer, president of Common Cause, the public-interest lobbying group. Not so, says Union Pacific's Schuster. When elected officials leave Houston and return to the marble halls of Congress or their state capitol, "they all look at the issues on their merits - not because they had a piece of french toast on our train." DO CORPORATIONS PRACTICE PARTISAN PARTYING? Democrats party, too. "They were just as bad in New York," Wertheimer says of the Democratic National Convention held last month in the Big Apple. Democratic Party drumbeaters raised $38 million in corporate and private donations for their convention. Democratic candidate Jerry Brown tore into special interests in a speech at a breakfast during convention week, only to discover afterward that the event was co-sponsored by ARCO and that his remarks were delivered against a backdrop of the corporate logo. WHO DO CORPORATIONS SPECIFICALLY TARGET? In Houston, the biggest recipients of corporate and lobbyist largesse are influential members of Congress, such as Michel of Illinois, Sen. Robert Dole, R-Kan., and Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. Dole, for instance, was toasted Tuesday at the elegant River Oaks home of Coastal Corp. Chairman Oscar Wyatt. K Mart Chairman Joseph Antonini and Maxxam CEO Charles Hurwitz, who wants to buy Continental Airlines, were co-hosts. WHICH CORPORATE INTERESTS INVEST THE MOST? It can be schmooze or lose, especially for telephone companies and energy concerns. Throwing the most parties and receptions are the regional phone companies (BellSouth, U S West, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell) and oil and energy companies (Coastal, Texaco, Chevron, ARCO, Kerr-McGee, Phillips Petroleum, Enron and the utility trade group Edison Electric Institute). Both industries face big regulatory and legislative showdowns on Capitol Hill. DOES THE SCHMOOZING GET MORE INVOLVED THAN JUST PARTYING? Houston-area General Motors dealers provided GOP VIPs with 300 courtesy cars. Sunday, GM Chairman Robert Stempel greeted CBS anchor Dan Rather, Transportation Secretary Andrew Card and several hundred others who dropped in at a GM reception to kick the tires on three of GM's experimental cars and several 1992 models. GM even brought in several of the workers who built the cars to discuss their features with reception attendees. "Our idea here is to talk about our improvements in quality," says GM spokesman Bill Noack. "The bottom line for us is (that the convention) is a marketing opportunity." HOW FAR DO THE CORPORATE TENTACLES REACH? Others have gotten into the act. Former Bush aide Craig Fuller, now director of corporate affairs for Philip Morris, agreed to chair the convention for his old boss. But he also is flying the corporate flag at invitation-only Philip Morris receptions at the Westin Galleria. Also here are trade groups representing realtors, grocers, manufacturers, food marketers, insurance agents, securities brokers, chemical producers and drug makers. ARE CORPORATE RIVALRIES EVER A PROBLEM? There are also dueling lobbies. AT&T was miffed to find that when Michel's staff made up the guest list for Wednesday's golf outing, it included two BellSouth lobbyists. While AT&T and BellSouth don't directly compete, they have taken opposing sides on some legislative issues, including the regional phone companies' bid to manufacture telephone gear. Five hundred people showed up Monday at a National Association of Broadcasters reception for Michel. But the broadcasters' archenemy, the National Cable Television Association, says it is using ads in convention publications - not parties - to reach important Republicans. ARE THE POLITICIANS THE ONLY ONES CATERED TO? The esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the media - 15,000 of them -are not guilt-free. They fortify themselves nightly with the free hoagies and beer served up at the BellSouth Media Lounge. And Monday, public relations firm Hill & Knowlton distributed red canvas "goody bags" - containing samples of Ralph Lauren's Polo and Safari colognes, among other things - to members of the media. WHAT'S THE END RESULT? AT&T's Aldredge rejects the idea that all the partying and freebies are designed to put special interests above public interests. AT&T, he says, is not wires and cables and shareholders and executives. "It is 420,000 employees worldwide and their families." Says Wertheimer of Common Cause, "everybody knows what's going on. It's influence-buying, it's currying favor." Bonus Editor: Martin Baucom. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM