“I’m Not Going To Be…Lobbying" Said Kent Conrad Before Taking Lobbying Job

“The one thing I know I’m not going to be doing is lobbying.”

That’s what former North Dakota Senator Kent Conrad told the Bismarck Tribune in 2012 just before finishing his final term in the U.S. Senate.

Now, one of the problems I always had with Senator Conrad was that he seemed to say one thing here in North Dakota and then go off to Washington DC and do another. Here in North Dakota he cultivated a very moderate posture. He sold himself as someone who was interested in bipartisanship and working together and all the other buzzwords politicians like to use. But in Washington DC, Conrad had voting record that was a lot further to the left than his constituency, and he was a pretty staunch party loyalist.

So it doesn’t surprise me at all that after Conrad made a strong comment about never lobbying, he’s now registered as a lobbyist for Molina Healthcare Inc.

Previously Conrad public relations giant Edelman had announced Conrad as a hired consultant, but in Conrad’s lobbying disclosure for Molina (see below) he just lists himself independently. He uses a Gmail account as his email, and even the address he lists seems to be his home.

So who is Molina Healthcare? They’re a company that bet big on Obamacare, investing heavily in policies sold through the state-based exchanges created by the law.

Since it is at least arguable that his vote in favor of Obamacare, despite heavy opposition to that law from his constituents, is why Conrad chose to retire from the Senate rather than run again could one argue that a job lobbying for a company profiting from Obamacare is Conrad’s golden parachute?