Heather Podesta

Heather Podesta

Heather Podesta is the striking DC lobbyist who has made a name for herself as one of the toughest sharks in Washington waters. Sometimes with and sometimes against husband and fellow lobbyist Tony Podesta, Heather is having the summer of her life, according to a Washington Post profile. The article paints Heather as the ultimate insider, constantly trading in the currencies of power, influence and good old cash. Heather Podesta is high-profile for a lobbyist and earlier this year, she and her husband donated Shepard Fairey's "Hope" portrait of Barack Obama to the National Portrait Gallery. She's also donated more than $48,000 so far this year to various political candidates and groups, and her life consists of nearly non-stop fundraisers. But Heather Podesta is enjoying the heavy workload, with the intersection of health care, economic reform, and environmental reform creating a perfect storm for Washington lobbyists.

"This is a very good time to be a Democratic lobbyist ... it's incredibly exciting to be able to engage with Democrats and really see things happen," Podesta told the Post. "It's always a good time to be Heather Podesta." When President Obama began vilifying lobbyists during his campaign, Heather took offense and commissioned a Gothic-style scarlet L, which she wore as a mark of pride. She says the L soon became a hot item and she gave away more than 100 of them. Time blogger Karen Tumulty has already pointed out that it's risky for lobbyists to flaunt their influence in huge feature stories, and ponders what the fallout might be for Podesta. "Commonsense rule #1 for influence peddlers: Don't flaunt it," Tumulty writes. Members of the Senate and House of Representatives should be like criminal juries: neutral and closed to the world. The only people they should listen to are their superiors and the American people. Any other influence could sway a particular iniative in the direction of a motivated individual with an agenda or axe to grind, otherwise known as a lobbyist.