Thanks To Citizens United, Multinational Mega Lobbyist Firm Salivates Over $4 Billion In Campaign Cash

The WPP Group is perhaps the most important lobbying corporation you've never heard of.

On Saturday, protesters will stage demonstrations across the country to mark the two year anniversary of the Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that opened the door to unlimited, and largely secret, corporate money flooding into American elections. But not everyone is grimacing at the prospect of special interests buying the 2012 vote.

Last summer, Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the world's largest advertising and lobbying corporation, the WPP Group, told investors that he is bullish for this year. Political spending in the United States, Sorrell said confidently, "has already kicked off" and will rise to $4 billion -- "as best as we can anticipate." "The Supreme Court decision recently," he said referencing Citizens United, "on lobbying and funding of lobbying, pushes it further."

Most American media outlets segregate campaign spending from from special interest lobbying. But the British CEO's conflation of the two may be a more accurate representation.

The WPP Group is perhaps the most important lobbying corporation you've never heard of. The holding company owns the top players in the influence industry, including firms aligned with both parties. WPP owns Blue State Digital, the digital strategy firm behind Obama's 2008 web operation, as well as the the Glover Park Group, the lobbying and public relations operation run by ex-Clintonites. Mark Penn, the polling the guru behind Hillary Clinton's loss in the Democratic primary last cycle, heads a WPP-owned firm.

The slice of $4 billion in political spending WPP Group hopes to make off the election won't just be from Democrats. Ogilvy Government Relations, a powerhouse K Street company and WPP-owned firm, is run by Wayne Berman, one of Mitt Romney's most productive fundraisers. Charlie Black, the GOP uber-lobbyist who closely guided John McCain's campaign and recently signed up with team Romney, leads the Prime Policy Group, yet another corporate lobbying operation owned by the WPP Group.

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