Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

January 30, 2004

Neel Was a Lobbyist

Howard Dean claimed last night that his new campaign chief, Roy Neel, "never lobbied and kept faith with his ethics pledge." Neel himself tries to dodge the question on the Dean blog saying "After nearly 20 years in public service I worked for a few years in the private sector as an advocate for local telephone companies, but never lobbied the White House on their issues."

"Can we settle this once and for all?" The Scrum asks. "Roy Neel was a lobbyist. But don't take our word for it. Here are the lobbying registration papers he filed with Congress in 2001. On May 1 of that year, he notified the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate that he would be lobbying on "telecom legislation" for SBC, Inc., Verizon and Bell South. Before that he was listed in 2000, 1999 and 1998 as a lobbyist for the U.S. Telecom Association."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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