Okay, imagine I'm a new member, okay. I've just come to Capitol Hill and I'm going to be on a committee that influences your issue. Tell me how you end up influencing me or how you create a relationship.

Yeah, I'd say that's be careful. We don't try and influence people.

In every major city, there are certain words that hold an undeniable kind of power.

San Francisco has startups. Starting today, our company is now met up.

New York has finance and Washington has influence.

Nothing is more sought after on the hill than being influential.

But the funny thing about influence is sometimes those who have the most of it want nothing to do with the term.

There's no quid pro quo. There's no influencing.

Lobbius, like these two.

I think the influence is overrated. It's more just good education.

Will do anything legally possible to, yes, influence lawmakers.

But they'll do even more to make sure you call their work anything but.

We're not influencing. We're basically stating our position and hoping that the member of Congress, he or she, sees our side.

The lobbying industry spent decades on Washington's case street near the White House.

If you mention that term, case street, most people would assume you mean lobbying.

Who has offices on case street?

I mean, what firms have offices on case street? Not many.

So, case street is becoming old news and influence peddlers have explored more subtle ways to twist the arms of members of Congress.

Everything just moved east and now it's like the one wants to be on the other side of seventh street, right?

As far as like lobbyists, like the closer you are, the better you are.

They're pretty close, all right. These days, those iconic brick row houses on Capitol Hill, they aren't for living in.

They're for lobbying.

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