Comcast's Cohen downplays Baker backlash

Comcast's top policy executive David Cohen downplayed the extent of the backlash against the decision to hire Federal Communications Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker.

Cohen said "only a couple" newspapers editorialized on the development. They have included the L.A. Times, the New York Times, and his hometown paper The Philadelphia Inquirer. "The New York Times just used it as an entryway to launch into a diatribe about the revolving door," he said. He said he doesn't expect the development to "become a national story" and rise above the level of "chatter" in D.C. telecom circles. Comcast's decision to hire Baker has become a national story in at least one sense: The major wire services, cable news and the national newspapers have all blanketed it in coverage. He said Comcast "bent over backwards to comply" with all of the rules regarding Baker's departure. He said Baker's talent made her difficult to pass up, and he commended her as smart, creative and honest, with a knack for working across party lines. He said "the headline should be" that Comcast is hiring her in spite of the fact that she will face considerable restriction on her lobbying activities, including a ban on working the executive branch.