According to a press release from the American League of Lobbyists, the association that lobbies for lobbyists, the membership has voted to change its name and "brand" to the Association of Government Relations Professionals.

It's good that lobbyists do not run election campaigns, because their branding is pretty blind. The acronym for their new name is going to be, whatever they may say, AGRIP, as in "a grip on the necks of elected officials." Couldn't they have seen this coming?

A commentor on wonkette.com, Sullivanst, appears to be the first to have seen this:

It will not be pronounced "A Grope", it will be pronounced "A Grip", as in "we will continue to exert A Grip on the legislative process."

When an acronym was discussed, the historically-minded lobbyists in the association most likely had in mind Agrippa (64-12 B.C.), a Roman general who not only spent fabulously on wars, but also spent fabulously on infrastructure investments and spectacles, all of which spending required the intervention of numerous individuals now formerly known as lobbyists.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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