Understanding and Influencing the Political Process

I have always enjoyed visiting Washington D.C., but this trip was different than the one’s I have taken before.  Very little sightseeing (although the Cherry Blossoms were in bloom) and Congress wasn’t even in session.  We focused on effectively influencing the political process and understanding how that process works.  I believe we often over-simplify the political process, thinking in our ideological minds that you debate a bill and then have a simple vote to determine if it will pass.  But as we learned, very little in Washington is as simple as it seems.  If you are going to be effective in furthering your agenda then you need to understand how the game works.

If you are an elected official your ultimate goal is to get reelected.  Trying to satisfy your constituents when every bill seems to be tied to another can become a real juggling act.  Choosing which bills you need to support in order to get votes for your bill becomes a real challenge.  We spent part of one day playing the Congressional Insight game; it was a good illustration of how every vote and every decision will make some people happy and others mad.  You often have to decide who you can afford to make mad today.

If you are a lobbyist, you must be careful who you upset today because you may need their help on another issue tomorrow.  We had the opportunity to visit with Monsanto’s Washington staff.  Michael Dykes (Monsanto’s head lobbyist) stressed the importance of being able to work with both sides of the political spectrum and not get caught up playing politics if you are to be successful as a lobbyist.  He talked about the importance of treating everyone with respect, he said just because someone is just an intern today doesn’t mean they won’t be a Chief of Staff tomorrow.    The point was also stressed to us that we need to be direct and strait to the point when meeting with our elected officials and/or their staff; you never know how long you will have with them.  They may be called out quickly for another meeting or a vote, so don’t lose your opportunity.