Big business is getting outfoxed and ineffective lobbying is to blame, according to a Politico article yesterday. On the issue of trade, Republicans are shaking fingers at the business community for blowing their chance to clinch a deal on trade promotion authority legislation.
So what’s going wrong?
Historically, the culture of Washington dictated that if an industry wanted to move significant legislation, it relied on the well-heeled and deep-pocketed with some traditional media strategy sprinkled along the way. Winning public opinion and mobilizing grassroots support were second tier tactics – given a perfunctory nod but not treated with real importance.
But now the decades-old war chest strategy is falling short. According to Politico, even a senior GOP aide noted that the lobbying effort by businesses was abysmal for this week’s trade deal. Members are getting grilled by constituents on the unpopular trade deal, and the business community isn’t winning over the skeptics.
We live in an era where media is extraordinarily fragmented. Agenda shaping happens not only on cable networks but now on social networks. Public opinion is, for better or worse, shaped by thousands of micro conversations.
Inside the beltway, business and trade organizations have been slow to accept this change. They too often employ an old playbook, clobbering for support by putting well-connected boots on marble ground and throwing money in PAC coffers in an attempt to win.
Their efforts will only take them so far.
A divided Washington coupled with the new way the public consumes media means a change in lobbying strategy is needed – one that uses the same kind of vocal public support typically reserved for party fringes.
It’s a difficult shift, but those who have tried a new strategy are seeing success.
Case in point: after years of trying to pass a doc fix legislation, health care industry groups finally figured it out. Rather than simply relying on a war chest to hire well-connected lobbyists and to spread around PAC contributions, big players like the American Health Care Association and American Medical Association whipped up the grassroots using a sophisticated digital communication strategy. They focused on swaying public opinion. They built their lobby strategy around robust communication frameworks.
They were incredibly successful at pushing their members to act. They got Congress to reverse lobby, using easily-sharable digital tools from advocacy groups to win support from their own constituents. They used relationships on the Hill in a new way, micro-targeting staffers with digital strategies typically reserved for the campaign trail, reaching them on their morning commutes, at their office desks, in Committee offices, and everywhere in between.
And when the vote was over, it wasn’t Republicans or Democrats who were the big winners: it was the strategy. Because for the first time in a long time, this approach got Congress to pass wide-scale reform on a center-leaning issue that has burdened Washington for years.
It wasn’t the easy way out. It is tough work to sway public opinion – but they succeeded.
Members of Congress often say to business groups and professional associations that sit closer to the center of American politics “I support this policy – it’s the right thing to do – but I can’t make this happen unless I hear from constituents; unless there is vocal public support.”
To win in a polarized Washington, trade organizations must shift their lobby strategy to one that is fit for the 21st Century. In addition to money, the business community will also have to focus their strategy on the tough work of winning public opinion and mobilizing grassroots support.
