A friend comments on my “How Does It Feel to Be at the Table Now?” post thus:

I think there is a pyschological element at work here a la Atlas Shrugged — many of the Washington lobbyists who were here in 93–94 feel repentant of having killed health reform back then and don’t want another 15 years of being considered “bad people” in Washington cocktail party circles. So they genuinely want to be “part of the solution” this time. The hard part is selling that to the folks who pay their salaries!