Eyes on the Prize

October 13, 2000 1:09 AM

Eyes on the Prize White House lobbied Norwegians for Clinton Nobel Peace Prize. Clinton and his minions are despicable, no?
posted by argus (4 comments total)

Those despicable Clinton minions -- apparently they can't even lobby right.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 2:24 AM on October 13, 2000

No, his despicable rating didn’t go up that much. Lobbying for the Nobel is rather common. Also note Slate called the winner.

Your link would only be news at FOX, a staunchily Republican news outlet who rather pride themselves on digging up dirt on Democrats.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 2:50 AM on October 13, 2000

The idea that the Prizes and the process are quasi-holy is just good marketing. Most lobbying is done, of course, by non-famous people and thus never makes the papers.

The wall between the committees and the outside world is very permeable; witness all the leaks that have happened over the years. (A story in the New York Times and on the wires, dated October 1, 1995, "So you want to win a Nobel Prize," by Blake Morrison, talks in-depth about the award process and some of the leaks and scandals).

One example of other lobbying from the February 14, 1993 Toronto Star:

"The China Olympic Committee has announced its support of International Olympic Committee boss Juan Antonio Samaranch for the Nobel Peace Prize. This follows on the heels of news that the IOC hired a top public relations company to help it lobby for the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize."

Another from the October 20, 1997 Cleveland Plain Dealer, talking about scientists who have "Nobel Prize fever":

"'There are people in the field whom you can identify as having Nobel dreams,' he said. 'They work the hell out of their careers. ... It's a form of self-destruction. They work too hard, they lobby too hard. They go around beating their breast, saying, 'Look at me, look at me.' The worst thing you can do for someone is infect them with this virus.'"

An article in the Times from earlier that month on the same subject: "The Nobel is like a coronation, they say, that researchers lobby for too much."
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:55 AM on October 13, 2000

I should add that I spent time on Lexis-Nexis composing my post to provide examples without being aware of the MSNBC link added in the meantime. Also, note the Slate story's headline is the same as the one I quoted. Interesting.

Finally, the nomination process is the wormiest, windingest, slimiest part of the whole affair. That's where most of your lobbying comes in.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:59 AM on October 13, 2000