With the state Democratic convention coming up this weekend, one wonders if party chairman Philip Johnston will be schmoozing to drum up political support or boost his business.

Johnston - the top dog in the Democratic Party for the past several years - is a registered lobbyist in Washington, D.C. His company, Philip W. Johnston Associates, has offices in Boston and Bethesda, Md., and counts among its clients the state-funded Holyoke Hospital, the National Association of Community Health Centers and Lennar Partners, a developer targeting the former Weymouth Air Force base.