The lobbyist and the would-be dictator

As Cote d’Ivoire heads south fast, Salon reports that one of Washington’s most well-known lobbyists — former Bill Clinton counsel Lanny Davis — has been hired by "the government" to step in. By "government," that would be Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president who has refused to step down from office after losing an election last month.

Davis, whose previous clients have included Equatorial Guinea dictator Teodoro Obiang, now finds himself in the service of a strongman who has no record of yielding to his opponents. And based on a statement released from Davis’ lawfirm, that may be exactly why the Ivoirian incumbent sought him out. Davis counsels against "a rush to judgment [about the election result] until all the facts regarding the November 28 election are fairly evaluated" — despite the fact that the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and the African Union have all certified an election result that would see Gbagbo losing. This was, by almost any measure, the most free and fair vote Cote D’Ivoire has ever held. Voting went smoothly and the results were certified by an independent commission.

So to be honest, convincing anyone to turn to Gbagbo’s camp, especially here in Washington, is going to be a tall order, no matter who your lobbyist is. The U.S. yesterday approved sanctions against Gbagbo and would extremely unlikely to break formation with the rest of the international community in reversing that order. The World Bank, the African Union, and the European Union have all done the same.

But if there’s one piece of good news, it’s this: Davis’ statement indicates that he’s recommended that Gbagbo let an international mediator step in. Maybe even Davis realizes that Gbagbo needs more help than just him.