The Tom and Dick show is fast becoming one of Washington's top K Street attractions, as former House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt and his former chief of staff Tom O'Donnell grow a fledgling firm into an Obama-powered big dog.
"I don't think there's any doubt for Democratic lobbyists that the election of the president changed the need for clients to hire Democratic lobbyists," O'Donnell said. "If you're going to hire a Democrat, Gephardt's got a pretty good name in the Democratic world."
Founded in 2007, the Gephardt Group pulled down almost $750,000 more in the first quarter of this year than its quarterly average from 2008, according to CRP.
And no wonder. Gephardt knows many of the administration's top officials and is particularly friendly with Vice President Joe Biden, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
O'Donnell, on the other hand, is tight with the staffers and has known Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and Biden chief of staff Ron Klain for more than two decades. He even gave White House congressional liaison Dan Turton his first job out of school, answering phones in Gephardt's office.
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