Several weeks ago the Washington Post Magazine ran a cover story called “How Lobbyists Always Win: Dispatches from Washington’s most relentless growth industry.”
Setting aside for the moment the obvious observations that while lobbyists win, not all lobbyists always win (most issues most of the time have a host of folks pushing in a host of directions) and that all advocacy is lobbying, so my mom writing a letter to Senator Dodd is lobbying, the article presents a pretty good view of much of what happens in DC.
Of particular note,
“Lobbying is much more substantive and out in the open than its ugly caricature. Lobbyists primarily woo lawmakers with facts. Making the case is what effective lobbyists do most and best. They spend the rest of their time persuading lawmakers’ constituents to back the same causes, very much in the most of electoral campaign. If members of Congress see merit in a position and there is a public outcry in its favor, that’s the way they tend to vote. Lobbying these days has a lot of moving parts and is, at its core, more marketing than arm-twisting or favor-swapping. It features not only the lobbyists themselves but ad executives, public relations experts, pollsters, Web site designers and other consultants.”
The most successful issue campaigns are campaigns for issues.
