A dictionary may be helpful

Sometimes in politics, it’s helpful to have a dictionary around.
Definitions are important, and words can be many things.
No, we’re not talking about parsing the meaning of “is” back in the days of Bill Clinton.
The word this time around is “lobbyist,” and the occasion is the contest between former Gov. Evan Bayh and Rep. Todd Young for a seat in the U.S. Senate representing Indiana.
At this week’s televised debate involving Bayh, Young and Libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton, Young repeatedly jabbed at Bayh for becoming a “lobbyist” after his premature exit from the Senate. Evan Bayh responded by calling Young’s charge a lie and denying that the “lobbyist” label fit.
So was Evan Bayh a “lobbyist” or not? It depends on how you define the word.
Young’s charge is predicated on Bayh joining a law firm known for its lobbying work in Washington. But is everyone who works for such a firm automatically a “lobbyist”?
Bayh apparently doesn’t believe so.
His post-Senate legal work, he maintains, involved working with corporate clients as they tried to wend their way through bureaucratic and regulatory mazes.
To qualify as a “lobbyist” by Evan Bayh’s definition would require actively working to influence lawmakers and legislation before Congress.
That’s a narrower definition than Todd Young sees, arguing that by using his Senate contacts to assist clients in their dealings with the federal government was, in fact, lobbying.
Does it matter? Maybe not. The same word can have different definitions when seen from different perspectives.
But when one candidate is using a word as a hammer and the other insists his opponent is lying, it might be worthwhile to have a dictionary on hand. — J.R.