DeButts’ lobbying blitzkrieg was ill-chosen for reasons beyond its high visibility and its undertone of political blackmail. Most importantly, the campaign inevitably persuaded only those congressmen who could do deButts the least good. Committed chairmanships were awarded on the basis of seniority, so the most powerful members were those with decades of service and electorally safe seats. Such congressmen were unlikely to be intimidated by AT&T’s implied threat of reprisals at the ballot box; they could win reelection with or without the phone company. A weak congressman, with one or two
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