Lobbying

        In the musical, Eyita, the chorus sang that "Politics is the art of the possible."  Lobbying is best described the same way.  it is an art that takes time, effort, skill, knowledge, and a sense of institutional history.  There are various ways to lobby and all of them can be effective at different time s for different reasons.

     Mass lobbying is practiced by groups of citizens with a common agenda and a burning issue.  It is the most volatile form of the art because it often has the potential to explode.  Hundreds of people, excited by an issue of great import will include in its ranks a number of whackos who will lose control and say or do something that will  rebound to the discredit of the entire group.  This kind of lobbying should be used sparingly because of that reason.  On the other hand, there is nothing like seeing five of ten thousand grim faced voters in the Capitol Rotunda to capture the attention of the members of the legislature.  Mass lobbying is dramatic, costly, time consuming, and takes a lot of organizing.  And that is its point.  If a group will take that much time, trouble, effort and foot the bill for the cost of it--what might they do during an election?  Mass action makes any legislator stop and think.  Mass lobbying includes demonstrating, submitting petitions, "walking the halls," and engaging in other very noticeable activities.  Generally it takes place over a few hours on a single day and is intended as punctuation.

     Group lobbying is a smaller version of mass lobbying and is undertaken when your enterprise wishes to make a finer point than can be made with a mass, or you cannot generate a sufficient mass to do something more dramatic. Here too, the point of it is meant to be more theatrical than substantive and the group runs the risk of generating ill will.

     For lots of reasons, lots of groups like to engage in these large lobbying efforts.  They have their place. But frankly, are all too often at least semi-counterproductive because at best, too often, they interrupt the flow of an already impossible jammed legislative calendar.

     Individual lobbying is the preferred method and , unless some special circumstance prevents it, your best bet is to employ a professional.  Lobbying demands knowledge of the subject matter, legislative procedures and timelines, the individual members of both houses, the appointed legislative staff members, the staff members of the various governmental agencies and most especially -- the experience the comes with years of honing one's lobbying skills.

     Lobbying just isn't for everyone.  It takes a well schooled, tough negotiator with the ability to persevere against long odds.  The hours are long and the disappointments are sometimes bitter.  Unless you really like and understand and can work with all kinds of people, in all kinds of situations -- without judgment, but with patience and good cheer, you won't be happy and you won't  last long as a lobbyist .