The term lobbyist has been perverted for long enough by special interests. It is time to reclaim it as a voice for the people. "I was thinking, maybe we could take the Congressman to a Steelers game. You know, have more time to push our..." The strategist in front of me stopped short, probably because he noticed I was glaring at him. "No, you will not pull an 'Abramoff' on this one." If anyone had told me that I would end up interviewing Jack Abramoff when I was sitting in that conference room over ten years ago, I would have laughed at them. When I worked for the lobbying arms of various groups over the years, I had a hard and fast rule. "If you can't get the votes you want on the floor, the problem is that you're failing at selling your message. The solution is to fix your sales technique, not buy the votes." It might seem idealistic, but the reality was that I didn't (still don't) believe in pushing for more laws unless there was a very good reason for having them. In my mind,