This guy seems like someone I need to talk to. A former “Hurricane” Sheila Jackson Lee staffer, he has a lobbying firm in D.C. and some Republican contacts.
Three years ago he worked for a Hill Democrat; four years ago I worked for a Hill Democrat (Sarbanes-MD). I’ve been a conservative for at least that long, but as recently as last month, that guy was still a liberal. The Hill should write an article about me! I’ve got more stories to tell than he does. Oh, well.
So why did he become a Republican? He says:
“After I left the Hill, I opened up a lobbying shop [Kellman & Associates]. As a lobbyist, you work with people on both sides of the aisle….Really, I just got fed up. We’ve raised some money for the party, and just the attitude of the DNC [Democratic National Committee] toward returning our phone calls” was surprising.
That’s it? Unreturned telephone calls caused him to embrace a different (and better) political ideology?
He doesn’t seem like a very deep individual, does it? But he rehabilitates himself a little. “A lot of my friends said, ‘Kerry’s going to win and this is going to be bad for you’….I’m going to do my best to make sure Bush maintains control of the White House.”
Just for the benefit of his lobbying firm? Whatever. It works for me.
UPDATE 5/11/04: Oliver Kellman is a true gentleman. He wrote to me and explained why he switched parties, which he didn’t have to do. I was a little sarcastic and unfair in my remarks about him. As a writer I should know that not every quote gets included in a finished article. I apologize for my accusation that he switched parties because of unreturned telephone calls. I was trying to be clever, but it falls flat even to my ears.
