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  Whiskey, strippers, divorce, the FBI, and other confessions of a Gold Dome lobbyist.
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ContributorRBH 
Last EditedRBH  May 07, 2009 08:15am
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News DateThursday, January 1, 2009 02:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionIt is here where, every January, hundreds of lobbyists—a noticeable number in stilettos and form-fitting ensembles—lie in wait atop the stairwells, by the shoeshine stand, even outside the restrooms, to hug the necks and kiss the cheeks of lawmakers strutting to their chambers. Back home, members of the General Assembly are farmers and lawyers and preachers and insurance agents. But here, during the three-month legislative session, they are anything but ordinary citizens. They are votes to be wooed and won.

No one was a bigger charmer or more effective hired gun in his day than Rusty Kidd, who arrived at the Gold Dome in 1972 at the tender age of twenty-five and represented one of the most powerful lobbies in the state, the Medical Association of Georgia. At six foot three, with brown hair and blue eyes, Kidd both stood out and fit in perfectly at the Capitol. His natural athleticism—he quarterbacked at the University of Tennessee before his knees blew out—gave him an entrée with lawmakers who liked to be courted with putters and hunting rifles in hand. He immediately proved trustworthy, donning his first tuxedo to a “No Wives” affair hosted by lobbyists for lawmakers who wanted to treat their girlfriends to a hassle-free night on the town.

Kidd attended the function with his biggest ally, his father, State Senator Culver Kidd of Milledgeville. The elder Kidd served more than forty years in the legislature and still ranks among Georgia’s most powerful politicians. Known as the “Silver Fox,” Senator Kidd passed more bills year in and year out than any other lawmaker and “Culverized” just as many—upending a bill through the use of a comma or conjunction. Father and son didn’t always agree on issues, but when they did, they invariably triumphed.

The Silver Fox has long since vanished from the statehouse, having died powerless and miserable in 1995, three years after redistricting cost him his seat. But his son, now sixty-two and gray
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