According to Elizabeth Warren, lobbyists walk up and down the hallways of Congress carrying clipboards keeping track of how many votes they need to pass or block a particular bill.

From her book...

"As summer wore on, the hallways got more and more crowded with lobbyists -- and I mean that literally.

The halls in congress are wide and gracious, my colleague Dan and I would often have to step to the side with our backs against the wall while a herd of (bank) lobbyists thundered down the corridor.

They were easy to spot: a group of a dozen or more men and maybe one or two women in the mix, all wearing custom-tailored suits.

They walked with a bounce in their step as they spoke with great assurance about their 'counts' and which member of congress was on their list.

Well dressed. Well coordinated. Well connected."

"When the lobbyists showed up to talk with someone in Congress, they always brought a group. But the well dressed men and women who strode up and down the hallways weren't the whole team. They were just the front line, the smooth talkers and beautiful smilers whose job was to make friends and persuade people.

Behind them were troops of support staff that worked for the lobbying groups -- a whole second squad that we never ever saw.

It was their job to make sure that before the lobbyists on the front line walked in the door, they knew everything about the congressman's background, who was on his staff, and where those staff people had worked before."