Supporting BP's Hayward

A raft of American politicians stand ready to support BP CEO Tony Hayward. The list includes:

Independent:
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York

Red:
Josh Bolten, former Bush Chief of Staff
Ken Duberstein, BP lobbyist

Blue:
Tom Daschle, BP America advisory board
Tony Podesta, BP lobbyist

Additional Members of BP External Advisory Council (2007 report):

Jamie Gorelick - also on the board of Schlumberger and United Technologies

Warren Rudman - formerly on the board of Boston Scientific

Alan Simpson - co-chair of President Obama's Deficit Commission

Christine Todd Whitman - also on the board of United Technologies, Texas Instruments & S.C. Johnson & Sons

Admiral Frank "Skip" Bowman - Member of the James Baker's BP Independent Safety Review Panel, on Morgan Stanley board of directors

Leon Panetta - now CIA Chief

BP hired The Brunswick Group for public relations advice. Brunswick packages access to the Obama White House through Business Forward. BP employed Brunswick's Ann Womack-Kolton as head of U.S. media relations.

Much is happening behind the scenes. These folks count on the public's apathy and short attention span. Yet, oil will spew until August at the earliest. Tony Hayward will get by with help from his friends.

Update: Jamie Gorelick will represent BP in the White House scolding. She is the only outsider invited.

Update 2: Alan Simpson didn't fare well in his interview on Social Security as a member of Obama's Deficit Commission. His framing sounded a bit like BP, i.e. nobody expected & who knew? Was it his BPAmerica External Advisory Council coming through?

Update 3: WaPo ran a piece on BP's lobbyists/consultants.