Politico: DNCC rules have lobbyists scrambling

Politico today reports that new rules for the 2012 Democratic National Convention have Washington's K Street lobbyists scrambling.

"Already, eight months out, K Street is scrambling to overcome the new restrictions. Hired guns and in-house corporate execs are plotting ways around the new rules to make sure they’ll have a prime opportunity to mingle with party operatives and sherpa senior executives into official convention activities.
“The Democrats have made it inconvenient for corporations to donate to the convention but not impossible,” said Kenneth Gross, a veteran ethics lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom....

"Some lobbyists say they’re looking for ways to get convention access and boost the party despite the new hurdles, although many are grumbling about the challenges.
“I would guess there are going to be companies that figure out, ‘Okay, there’s no real way we’re going to be able to get around the limitation on corporate funding conventions, so what we’ll do is we will just get a block of rooms or condos somewhere near downtown and we’ll pay for that,’” one Democratic lobbyist said. “And then, if there’s a way that our executives or Washington folks can get access to credentials through whatever means, well, we’ll just leave them to figure out what those channels might be.”
Others are threatening to stay home and withhold their help, which makes convention planners worry."