Foolish

The 'Bipartisan' Lobbying Behind Immigration Reform

In ads like this, Marco Rubio is betting his career on the immigration bill.

According to POLITICO, this particular ad is financed by Mark Zuckerberg and others in the technology industry.

FWD.us, the organization formed to push Silicon Valley’s priorities in Washington, will advocate for a new immigration law through a subsidiary group created specifically to court conservatives. Americans for a Conservative Direction will spend seven figures to run ads in more than half a dozen states, according to strategists who sketched out the organization’s plans.

The conservative-oriented FWD.us affiliate running the ads has assembled its own blue-chip board of advisers, including former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; Sally Bradshaw, the former chief of staff to Jeb Bush; Dan Senor and Joel Kaplan, the former George W. Bush advisers; and Rob Jesmer, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who serves as the campaign manager for FWD.us.

Brian Walsh, the former NRSC communications director, is working closely with the group on communications and strategy.

I especially cherish the news that "Americans for a Conservative Direction" is actually a subdivision of Facebook's lobbying effort. Presumably, if needed, Facebook could launch "Americans for a Liberal Direction" to advocate exactly the same Facebook-preferred policies with arguments and spokespersons aimed at the Left instead of the Right.

Lobbying makes bipartisans of us all.

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David Frum

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