Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

June 10, 2004

Room 347

Roll Call has found what is perhaps the most exclusive lobbyist meeting in Washington. For the past three years, six top lobbyists have met "nearly every Thursday morning with the Senate's top Republican aides in Room 347 of the Russell Office Building."

Participants include:

• Dirk Van Dongen of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors
• Bruce Josten of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Dan Danner of the National Federation of Independent Business
• Lee Culpepper of the National Restaurant Association
• Mike Baroody of the National Association of Manufacturers
• John Castellani of the Business Roundtable.

The Thursday Group was initially formed in 1994 and was critical in drafting the "Contract with America." But it disbanded once the Republicans consolidated their control on Capitol Hill. The group was reformed in 2001 when Sen. Jim Jeffords left the GOP to become an Independent. Since then, "the meeting has never been publicized" and participants have refused to comment.

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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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