A Rising Star in the Hold-Your-Nose Industries

"It's far exceeded all of our expectations," said Dan Kotman, spokesman for the group.

The price of gasoline certainly helps.

Gingrich plans to collect 3 million names and present them (no doubt with a media-heavy flourish) at both parties' national conventions at the end of the summer. At this rate, he'll have no trouble reaching that goal.

Hire of the Week

One of the highest-ranking beneficiaries of the infamous K Street Project -- the effort by senior Republican lawmakers to pressure lobbies to hire fellow Republicans -- has decided to move on.

Daniel Crowley, chief government affairs officer for the Investment Company Institute, the main lobby for mutual funds, has decided to leave after five years on the job. He got the gig after Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio), then chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and his top aides pressured the institute to push aside Julie Domenick as its top lobbyist.

Oxley's staff suggested to industry officials at the time that a congressional probe of the mutual fund industry might ease up if the institute complied. Domenick was not fired but eventually left and is now president of her own lobbying firm, Multiple Strategies, where she represents the institute.

In an interview, Crowley, 45, said he is departing because freelance lobbying soon will grow rapidly as Congress looks to increase regulation and taxation, and clients look for help. Institute spokesman Greg Ahern said Korn/Ferry International is heading a search for Crowley's replacement and is "agnostic as to whether it's a Republican or a Democrat."

Please send e-mail to kstreet@washpost.com.