A case study could be Nancy Menke, who cut her teeth in governmental doings as a lobbyist for the Tennessee State Employees Association. Now she can be found standing beside the governor as he criticizes TSEA for a reputation of unreasonableness in its demands for pay increases. Since her TSEA days in the 1980s, she has revolved into a private sector contract lobbyist for folks such as Corrections Corporation of America, then into a job as the governor's lobbyist, then into a job as a key governor policy adviser on issues including prisons, then back to the private lobbying format, then back to take the commissioner's job. The governor's new legal counsel, Courtney Pearre, is a former lobbyist and, in all likelihood, will lobby again. Ditto for Hardy Mays, who Pearre replaced as legal counsel and who is now deputy to the governor and chief of staff.
Legislators revolve, too.
Probably at least a third of the current corps of lobbyists working the Legislature are former legislators. Less frequently, former lobbyists also revolve through the door to become legislators. For example, freshman state Rep. Gene Caldwell, D-Oak Ridge, campaigned as a man experienced in government because of his lobbying on behalf of causes he supported as a pediatrician. While folks of power and influence enjoy the revolving-door ride, the opposition has long seemed simply dizzy. What is needed, of course, is a good lobbyist to work things out and get an anti-revolving door bill passed.