'Distinguished Gentleman, May I Have Her Hand . . .?'

The lawmaker has to pay for the repairs, of course. But the rapid service -- something that's hard for regular Joes to obtain, especially in the summer -- is a special courtesy for very special people.

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It also helps the air-conditioning industry get its points across. The association routinely sends one of its lobbyists to the assisted lawmaker's office to make sure that he or she received satisfactory service. "Then, if they have time to talk about legislative issues, we do," said Paul T. Stalknecht, the association's president.

"We take advantage of the situation by following up," he said. "We've been able to get the ear of a congressman or senator on a very fast, informal basis."

Pretty cool -- or too hot for its own good?

Mark the Calendar Now

It's apparently never too early to think about -- and therefore to lobby on -- big-dollar pieces of legislation. That's the only explanation I can think of for an invitation several reporters received recently from a group called Americans for Transportation Mobility. (Is there such a thing as transportation immobility? Maybe on I-95, I guess.)

Kara Gerhardt Ross, a spokeswoman who works for Qorvis Communications, announced via e-mail a breakfast discussion to mark "the two-year countdown to the expiration of the current transportation reauthorization bill."

So set your alarm clocks. SAFETEA-LU, as aficionados call the thing, will expire Sept. 30, 2009. It's never too early to worry!

Bush's Friends -- and Foes

President Bush clearly needs all the friends he can get. But he's made an enemy of a business alliance that backed one of his least popular initiatives this year: the ill-fated immigration bill.

The Essential Worker Immigration Coalition lobbied hard for Bush's comprehensive proposal. But several of its top members, including the Chamber of Commerce, have joined a lawsuit that seeks to halt the Bush administration's crackdown on the hiring of illegal immigrants. The program, now on hold, would send letters to businesses warning that they are required to fire workers who fail to resolve discrepancies in their paperwork or face potential fines and criminal liability.

The suit, which is also backed by labor unions and the American Civil Liberties Union, accuses the Department of Homeland Security of exceeding its authority and misusing a Social Security database in a way that could lead to workplace discrimination against law-abiding workers, including native-born Americans and legal immigrants.

Coalition members are not happy about fighting their old friends in the White House. But they also say they have no choice.

"They're doing what they have to do and we're doing what we have to do; we have to represent our members," said John F. Gay, chief lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, a leader of the coalition. "We always opposed enforcement-only solutions because it wouldn't solve the problem."

Then again, he said, "what about the immigration issue would ever make you think that it was normal?"

Hire of the Week

The law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has given unprecedented power to lobbyists.

It recently named Frederick D. McClure, a former top White House lobbyist, as the managing partner of its 100-lawyer D.C. office.

Back in March, Elliott I. Portnoy, the founder and former head of Sonnenschein's lobbying practice in Washington, became chairman of the entire 700-lawyer firm. Portnoy is not only the first lobbyist to chair the firm, he is also the first chairman to come from outside Chicago, where the firm was founded in 1906.

McClure, who worked for former president George H.W. Bush and came to Sonnenschein in 2004, remains part of the lobbying department. His promotion, he said, "is a good statement about people who do what I do professionally."

Separately, the head of the D.C. office of Alston & Bird, Frank " Rusty" Conner, has jumped to DLA Piper as the co-head of its D.C. office. He's bringing Thomas M. Boyd, who led Alston & Bird's lobbying practice. Boyd will run DLA Piper's lobby shop with former Michigan governor James J. Blanchard.