PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

A former associate of mine, still a friend, Beth Remley, now with the well-positioned Salem lobby firm, Thorn Run, asked me a very good question the other day.

It was this:

“How do you create political leverage in the Capitol? Sometimes, you can’t win by lobbying on merit alone. You need political leverage — that is, a hook to make people care enough to get to 36, 16 and 1 (the number or votes to win respectively in the House, the Senate and the Governor’s Office).

“You might have the best arguments, but if your opposition has greater political leverage, you won’t prevail.”

As Beth suspected, my attempt to answer her question prompted me to write this blog about the subject, which is written as if I were giving advice to associates in my firm.

I define political leverage as the ability to increase your chances of winning (or at least finding acceptable middle ground) by using various resources at your disposal, such as those listed below. To some, political leverage often means making campaign contributions and making them so high that they “buy” the day.

But, if that’s all it is, then those of us who don’t have huge dollar war chests ought to give up.

1. First, I have seen many issues decided at the Capitol in Salem on the basis of the hard work of lobbyists. Call this the difference between PERSEVERANCE and being a PEST.

I often walked that line and, on occasion, became nearly guilty of being a pest, which, if true, would work in my disfavor.  But perseverance is a form of political leverage.  Use it.  Be steady and always involved — early in the morning and late at night.  Show up first at the Capitol and stay late because you never know when you will find the 30 seconds of access to a key legislator that matters in producing an outcome you want.

One of the best examples from my long career relates to a senator whom I needed to influence on a technical, though important, change in assisted suicide law after the procedure passed for the second time at the polls.

I found out that the senator whom I knew well had been out of town and was coming back to the Portland airport. So, I offered to his staff that I would pick him up at the airport.

That meant I had at least an hour when he would be “trapped” in my car as we headed back to Salem.  I used the time to persevere in lobbying him on the assisted suicide law change, which, due to his leadership, eventually became part of Oregon Revised Statutes.

So PERSEVERE, don’t PESTER.  If you do this right, you’ll be better that your competitors.

2. As I did in the above example, count on the relationships you have built with legislators before you have to use those relationships.  In other words, relationships are not something you develop overnight; they require long-term investment, including on the campaign trail before any legislative session.

Timing here is key. To be successful in any legislative session in Oregon you have to be involved in cultivating honest, ethical relationships before a session starts. Get to know candidates in their campaigns. Learn what makes them tick. Express interest in their views honed on the basis of where they live and work.

3. At the right time — in order words, before an official legislative session — make political contributions designed to illustrate that you care about electing smart legislators who have the wherewithal to make good decisions when faced with tough issues.

I have seen many cases where small contributions can be used to express support for a legislator and help to build a relationship that enables you to lobby more effectively inside a session.

It should be added that ethical lobbyists expect no direct results in exchange for contributions. There is no quid pro quo.

4. Find legislative champions on whom you can rely to do what you cannot do, which is to lobby behind the scenes and on the floors of both chambers. I have seen many cases where a champion was able almost to dictate the outcome on an issue – not to dictate in the sense of giving orders, but rather, to dictate by achieving results by strength of character and position.

5. Try to use anecdotes to help make your point. I oppose legislative policy that is developed only in response to anecdotes. But, at the same time, I also believe anecdotes, if used properly, can help legislators understand what really is at stake even if they don’t know the in’s and out’s of complicated policy formulations.

6. Deploy grassroots resources to make your point.  Advocacy from local places throughout Oregon can help to produce solid outcomes at the Capitol. Encourage those you work for or who share your point of view to communicate directly with legislators. Often, the best way to do so is by asking these “grassroots recourses” to write personal letters in their own handwriting advocating a point of view. That personal touch will help to distinguish such communications from the raft of social media texts legislators receive every day.
7. Consider using the media to help make your point. This may be tough to do because no one controls what the media writes, nor should there be such control.  But, in the past, I have worked to generate editorials that I then used, if they made the right point, to help lobby an issue.  I also would tend to focus on editorials, not just daily news coverage; editorials can be more compelling.

9. Build coalitions in the knowledge that anything that happens at the Capitol is often the product of a team, not the “I.” Coalitions illustrate that a piece of legislation works for the good of many, not just one.

9. Use the CEOs for whom you work to meet personally with key legislators, thus capitalizing on their “power.”

In all of this, I believe GOOD IDEAS still matter in the formation of legislative policy.  If I didn’t believe that, then my fabled 25-year career as a lobbyist was worthless. So, with your clients, develop good ideas and then work to build support for them using the tactics outlined above.