Fagen joined former Assistant Treasury Secretary and Mitt Romney surrogate Emil Henry to discuss the outlook for the GOP primary and what it means heading into the general election in November. 

Fagen argued that, despite the drama currently unfolding between former Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the economy is still central in the minds of voters. “If you look at where the economy is, and … consumer confidence is lower than expected, that is the single-most-important measure for whether the president will be reelected or not,” said Fagen. “It is troubling for the White House.”  

Fagen also crunched the delegate numbers for Romney and Gingrich as they battle it out past Florida and on to Super Tuesday: “Well, [Florida’s delegate count] is not the most important number of whether Newt can stretch it out,” she observed. She noted that the primary race’s end will really depend on what happens on March 6^th, also known as Super Tuesday. “Over 500 delegates [will be] awarded on March 6^th, including Texas, Newt’s home state of Georgia, and most of those are going to be reapportioned.  Can Newt rack up enough [delegates] in the primaries to…force Romney into April and potentially drag out the convention process?”

If you’d like to listen to the broadcast you can do so by clicking the link here, WHUR Broadcast , and if you’re interested in learning more about DDC Advocacy including our current job opportunities please visit  our Careers Page.

"I want to put an end to young adult violence, and I feel the best way to do it is with meaningful employment. I became frustrated with the lack of quality career-training programs available to young adults. With career schools like TESST and EVEREST, the bar is very low for quality training. Very few, if any, young adults from Southeast leave their schools prepared to compete with today's highly educated and skilled workforce. So, I challenged myself to do something about it", says Bell.

On Tuesday November 8, The HOPE Project held its annual town hall, in historic Anacostia. The event focused on the topic of unemployment and had more than 170 attendees, many of which were under the age of 25.

The Project recruited a panel of experts from the Human Resources community, who had experience in recruiting, staffing and internship programs. Included in this panel was DDCA's Vice President of Human Resources, Don Smialowicz. Aside from assisting with this panel, Don has agreed to work more closely with the HOPE Project by volunteering to conduct interview-coaching sessions with the HOPE Project students.

DDCA thanks both Raymond and Don for their efforts in bettering our communities!

Read more about the HOPE Project:

The HOPE Project program is a 100% volunteer career-training program designed to prepare socially and economically disadvantaged young adults for careers as help desk and application support professionals.  The program is sponsored by the International Graduate University, a 501(c)3. 

The program is in its third year; the most recent graduating class has a combined average starting salary of $39,000.  Many of the graduates were unemployed before enrolling in the program; the others were under-employed.  The HOPE Project graduates have accepted employment offers from; Comcast, Webster Data & Communications, HP Enterprise Services, Evolver, MindBank, RCG Inc., ShareTech Solutions, Battelle and many other companies.  Here is a link to the student success page—http://www.hopeprojectdc.org/Success-Stories.aspx

In addition to the town hall, the HOPE Project held an information session to recruit candidates for the fall class.  Although there were only 4 slots available, 118 young adults submitted applications.  The program has been very well received in the community and is looked upon as a bright light by many young people who have nicknamed it “Harvard of the Hood”.  The program is much more than just a career training program—the students become active participants in the community by teaching others how to send email, shop online, and watch YouTube videos. 

Here is a link to some articles about the program.

http://www.hopeprojectdc.org/Press.aspx

Election Day Post-Mortem from Key States

In Ohio, voters repealed a law signed and backed by Republican Governor Jon Kasich, limiting public employees’ collective bargaining rights.  The referendum, known as Issue 2, had been signed into law as a Senate bill last spring, but remained on hold pending the referendum vote yesterday.  Conversely, a largely symbolic vote on Issue 3, which would exempt residents of Ohio from national health care mandates and stop any state law from forcing persons, employers, or health care providers from participating in a health care system, was approved by nearly a 66 percent margin.  While Ohioans clearly are opposed to the mandate, the federal law would supersede the Ohio statue.  

Virginia’s election outcome is still in doubt, but Republicans needed to net just two state senate seats to secure a 20-20 split, and win control of the senate by virtue of Lt. Governor Bill Bolling’s tie breaking vote.  As of Tuesday evening, Republicans had picked up one senate seat, while the Democrats had successfully defended three others in close races.  In the highly contested 17^th district, Bryce Reeves (R) leads State Sen. Edward Houck (D) by a mere 86 votes for the GOP’s second gain.  Should that margin hold, Republicans will have control of both state houses, as well as the governor’s mansion heading into 2012.

In Kentucky, Governor Steve Beshear was able to accomplish what so many fellow Democrats were unable to last fall.  He made the election about his own track record, and despite his party ties and support of the President, didn’t allow the election to become a referendum on the Obama administration.  Beshear joined West Virginia’s Earl Ray Tomblin as the second Democrat to be elected governor this year. 

Arizona saw Republican Senate President Russell Pearce defeated in a recall battle by political new comer and fellow Republican, Jerry Lewis.  Pearce was the author of a 2010 immigration law that made Arizona a flashpoint for hard line immigration reform.  Pearce was backed by Governor Jan Brewer in this race, and though he has also introduced or backed a variety of very conservative fiscal and social legislative initiatives, the race was largely seen as a referendum on hard-line illegal immigration reform.  The recall election was forced by a petition drive, and is the first of an Arizona legislator.

In New Jersey, the election news was essentially that there was no news.  Though lauded nationally as a future Republican presidential contender by many, Governor Chris Christie was unable to translate his political capital into tangible results in a number of highly contested New Jersey Senate and Assembly races.  Though a handful of races are still too close to call, it appears that the best either Democrats or Republicans could hope to emerge with, is a net gain of no more than one or two seats. 

Republican Phil Bryant, Mississippi’s Lieutenant Governor, won the race to succeed outgoing Governor and highly successful former Republican Governor’s Association Chairman, Haley Barbour.  In an unsurprising victory, Bryant garnered more than 60 percent of the vote.  The real news out of Mississippi though, was the defeat of a statewide anti-abortion initiative in a very conservative southern state.  Both Bryant and his Democrat challenger, Johnny DuPree, had endorsed the initiative, but the ballot measure, which contained some broad wording that made more than a few voters uncomfortable, was defeated soundly.   

Much like Arizona, Iowa saw another contest where candidates, Democrat Liz Mathis and Republican Cindy Golding, were clearly tied to a legislative policy issue.  The special election to fill a vacated state senate seat had become somewhat of a state and national spotlight race for the issue of same-sex marriage.  Republicans in the Iowa State Senate, as well as newly elected Governor Terry Branstad, made no secret of the fact that were Republicans to capture the seat, they would look to use the 25 – 25 senate deadlock to put a same-sex marriage referendum before voters.  Mathis prevailed with 56percent of the vote, and Democrats will retain a 26 – 24 advantage in the senate.  A referendum on the issue now seems unlikely.         

Oregon was the only state with a federal race on the ballot.  Republican Rob Cornellis will now face off against Democrat Suzanne Bonamici in January, as the two captured their party’s nominations to fill the empty seat of disgraced former Congressman David Wu.  Cornellis’s primary victory was largely a foregone conclusion and all eyes are on the general here.  Turnout suggests there may be rough seas ahead for the Democrat in this district.  Bonamici did secure 65 percent of the vote in this race, but Democrat turnout was only around 35percent and it remains to be seen whether that could be a precursor of what Democrats will see here next year.

Reading the Tea Leaves for 2012

The defeat of the Governor Kasich backed referendum to limit collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio is a victory for Democrats.  But the equally overwhelming approval of a measure which strikes at the heart of health care reform highlights the disdain voters still seem to harbor for that piece of legislation.  While Kasich has taken some difficult fiscal stances and displayed some tangible results in the state, it appears that voters aren’t willing to simply hand over the keys just yet.  If it was possible for Ohio to get any more “purple” than it appeared yesterday morning, we’re there.

Even if Democrats somehow retain the Virginia state senate seat where they currently trail by a nominal margin, the state itself seems to be slipping further and further away from the party.  Next year’s senate race between former Governors George Allen and Tim Kaine will make Virginia an even more hotly contested battleground, but a Republican presidential ticket that includes popular Governor Bob McDonnell would all but end President Obama’s hopes of competing there.

In Oregon, low Democrat turnout in the primary has to concern both the administration and party leaders.  With Oregon considered a battleground state for 2012, and a January 31^st election date on the calendar, seeing a repeat of what transpired in NY-9 would set a bad tone at the outset of the year, and signal to both parties that the state is truly up for grabs.

One of the most resounding messages sent by voters yesterday would appear to be their lack of pre-occupation with what they view as issues secondary to the economy.  Social issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, and anti-immigration initiatives took a hit, and members of both parties would be wise to heed what the voters are saying.  The same could be said for heavy-handed initiatives by the government to disrupt the status quo—see healthcare mandates or limiting collective bargaining rights in Ohio.

Republican presidential contenders would be wise to observe that while social issues might make great cannon fodder in the primary, there is apparently little to be gained at the ballot box on Election Day.  For the first time in three years, voters didn’t appear to be head hunting.  On Election Day 2008, 2009, and 2010, we saw an electorate motivated by fear and anxiety whipsaw in one direction or another, clearly favoring more liberal or more conservative candidates across the board.  Yesterday, a more moderate electorate was on display.  And for the first time in quite awhile, it seems voters are more concerned with putting party politics and political rhetoric aside, in the quest for real solutions. 

It remains to be seen whether Mitt Romney will continue what appears to be an inevitable march toward the Republican nomination, but yesterday’s election results seem to suggest that a general election battle could be considerably more of an uphill struggle than many Republicans would have thought at this time last year.

Implications for Advocacy

If yesterday is any indication, the general public appears to be more focused at looking beyond divisiveness than at any point in the last decade.  There is clearly a consolidation going on in the way of a moderate electorate.  And the desire for practical answers will mean voters are more open and receptive to a variety of messages-both from candidates, as well as organizations and associations. This presents a unique and timely opportunity for advocacy programs, not often seen in an election year environment.

As we continue to see shifts in the electoral map, more races in more states will be highly contested, and therefore, more platforms for advocacy engagement will be created.  Candidates will be listening closely to voters, and opportunities will be readily available for organizations to make their issue a driving force in any number of campaigns.  Through strategic grassroots advocacy, a well positioned organization or association can put their issue at the forefront of a contested race for the purpose of securing support from candidates and constituents.  With the right strategy, anyone can capitalize on the electoral cycle, drive a campaign discussion, and ensure the existence of both short and long term advocacy support for their issue or organization.

DDC Advocacy is pleased to announce a major upgrade to Democracy Direct's® campaign management and analysis capabilities, along with a new module that will allow you to send email to legislative staff. Below is a summary of the great new features of these enhancements.

Enhanced Campaign Management & Analysis

We've made major updates to Campaign Manager, our campaign management, analysis, and reporting functionality.

Key features include:

• Redesigned dashboard-style campaign tree – Easily navigate your campaigns, access summary metrics, and drill into detailed metrics for all campaign activity.
• New metrics for campaigns, alerts, and emails – Access new metrics for all email and activities, such as emails clicked and email open rate calculated as a percentage of delivered emails.
• Integrated campaign reporting – Generate all campaign, activity, and email reports directly from Campaign Manager with a single click. Reports will automatically generate based on the selected item and date criteria.
• Fast performance – Get your reports and metrics faster with a streamlined user interface.
• Consolidate alert and email reporting – Easily tie emails to action alerts at any time, including after the email is sent, for consolidated reporting of an action alert and all its related emails (e.g., call to action, reminder, thank you/follow-up, etc.).
• Improved navigation experience – Navigate through the campaign tree and drill into detail or reports and then quickly return to the same location in the campaign tree with intelligent-return navigation.

New Email Staff and Staff Data Modules

We are also pleased to announce the release of a new Email Staff module that will allow you to send emails to legislative staff. Key features include:   

• Attractive emails – Create and send attractive, template-driven HTML emails to legislative and committee staff.
• Easy administration – Easily manage draft and sent emails, copy emails, use our intuitive email wizard to create and format your email, add images and documents, and manage tests.
• Comprehensive reporting – Track open rates and other email results with full metrics and reporting.
• Up-to-date staff directory – Access an up-to-date directory of all Capitol Hill Senate, House, and Committee staff, including issue assignment.
• Add your own legislative staff – Quickly add your own district office and state staff to support all your legislative communication needs.
• Create and manage email lists – Add staff to custom email list categories for easy search, export, and email creation.

Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

All the best,

Andrew Stanley
VP, Product Management

Sneak Peek! Enhanced Campaign Reporting and Analysis and a New Email Staff Module.

We’re always looking to improve our technology to make managing grassroots programs and campaigns easier and more effective―so we are very pleased to announce a major upgrade to Democracy Direct's® campaign management and analysis capabilities, along with a new module that will allow you to send email to legislative staff.

As always, the input and feedback we get from our clients play a big role, and we’re happy to say that a number of the key upgrades are based on suggestions from users.  Below is a sneak peek of these two great new features.  Both will be released on the evening of October 13th.  To find out more, please contact us to attend one our client webinar sessions on September 28 at 2 pm ET or September 29 at 10 am ET, and stay tuned for more details!

Enhanced Campaign Management & Analysis

• Redesigned, dashboard-style campaign tree


• New campaign, alert, and email metrics available


• More easily tie emails with their action alerts for consolidated reporting


• New integrated reports generated with a single click


• Improved performance for large data sets

 New Email Staff and Staff Data Modules

• Create and send attractive HTML emails to Capitol Hill staff


• Track open rates and other results with full metrics and reporting


• Access an up-to-date directory of all Capitol Hill Senate, House, and Committee staff, including issue assignment


• Search and custom categorize staff and build your own email lists

Stay Tuned!

Stay tuned for more details about the upcoming release!  Contact us today if you are interested in attending a webinar session.

 P.S. Coming soon, Democracy Direct® will be available to  Mac® users on the Safari® browser!

Jackson touched on several subjects that gave insight into how the remainder of the Congressional year will play out.  Overall, he predicted that October and November will run smoothly and we’ll be able to see the impact of the deliberations of the newly appointed Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka “The Super Committee.”

When the audience asked about tax reform, Jackson responded that there would not be a re-write of the tax code in 45 days.  However, they are working towards efficiencies in the tax code. 

When asked about deregulation, Jackson commented that the House had come up with a few workable solutions; however, it would be important for those industries affected by overregulation to become players on the field and engage the Senate on this issue.

This meeting of the Government Relations Leadership Forum was well attended.  DDCA was honored to have played a part in the sponsorship of such a successful event.

There were no winners: The President and members of both parties are declaring victory on the debt deal compromise, but the political landscape says otherwise.  In its final form, the deal itself was barely palatable for either party philosophically, but did allow for political posturing by Congressional leadership and the President.  Protest votes lodged by both liberal Democrats, who fear the undermining of social welfare programs, and conservative Tea Party Republicans, who simply believe the deal does not go far enough in addressing serious fiscal concerns, are all the evidence needed to see that more than a few Members of Congress simply held their nose and voted in order to ensure that default did not become a reality.  The increase of the debt ceiling staved off disaster in the short term, but the fact that neither side sees this as a victory, and more importantly, seems eager to claim it, could spell trouble on the horizon.

The dollars and cents: From a cost cutting perspective, the debt ceiling agreement calls for $900 billion in spending cuts over the next ten years.  And while the immediate impact of the debt deal is the $400 billion dollar debt ceiling increase that takes effect now, coupled with the ability to increase that by an additional $500 billion over the coming months, the real concern for advocacy organizations should be the creation of a twelve person House and Senate special committee to identify additional spending cuts.  The committee has until November 23-Thanksgiving-to complete its recommendations for $1.5 trillion in savings and submit them to Congress.  Congress will then be required to hold an up or down vote on the committee recommendations by Christmas, without the ability to modify or amend them.  Should Congress deadlock or the committee fail to identify enough savings, $1.2 trillion in across the board cuts will go into effect.  These will include reductions in Medicare and defense spending.   

The clock starts now: Suffice it to say that twelve Members of Congress are about to become very popular.  When it comes to the committee’s recommendations for spending cuts, nothing will be off the table.  There has been wide speculation that the Members will be encouraged to tackle a tax reform recommendation, but with a mere four months in which to assemble recommendations, that seems an unlikely scenario.  Entitlement programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security will all be under scrutiny, as will all subsidies and tax breaks.   Across the board, organizations should be looking to ensure that programs in which they have a vested interest never find their way onto the chopping block.  The minute the debt compromise passes the Senate, the clock starts.  Forming advocacy strategies early and positioning stakeholders and grassroots assets properly, will hold the key to success for more than a few organizations.

Tax reform just got that much harder: While tax reform has been discussed as a possible aspect to the committee of twelve’s recommendations, the debt debate itself saw a fundamental disagreement between the two parties in the way to approach spending cuts.  Democrats insisted on increased revenues, and Republicans insisted that any debt deal would be revenue neutral, that savings would need to come from reductions in spending.  Tea Party Republicans wanted to go a step further with Cut, Cap and Balance, and ultimately it was the inclusion of a balanced budget amendment that got them off the fence and on board with Speaker Boehner’s agreement late last week.  The last major tax overhaul happened in 1986, and President Reagan had begun laying the groundwork for that piece of legislation early in his first term.  Congress is a far more partisan and divisive battle ground these days, as evidenced by some of the floor speeches and rhetoric surrounding the debt deal debate.  The unbending will of the Tea Party Republicans is something that Democrats won’t soon forget, and it’s unlikely that they’re going to be willing to let that faction of the GOP determine the direction of a tax overhaul anytime soon.  While tax reform might have seemed a logical undertaking for Congress only six months ago, it is now unlikely that any sort of tax overhaul will be in the works before the 2012 election.

Though Congress will adjourn for summer recess at any moment, the countdown is on to the Thanksgiving deadline and the spending cut recommendations that will come with it.   Organizations will need to position themselves both offensively and defensively from an advocacy perspective over the next four months.  Only through a thoughtful and strategic advocacy approach, can an organization ensure that their interests are protected.  Bringing the right resources to bear at the right time will be essential to ensuring that those interests do not become future casualties of yesterday’s debt deal.                      

Next we heard from John Brady, DDC Advocacy, on the evolution and recent trends of advocacy.  We saw the ever-changing timeline of grassroots efforts starting from faxes and form letters in the 70's to multi-faceted campaigns to present day: community building. He explained that grassroots has changed solely in the way the message is delivered. In today’s world, it is about communicating through the most effective form of technology. Finding an audience that shares your views and influencing them to express themselves is most important.

Lastly, David Wasserman, House Editor-Cook Political Report gave us insight into both redistricting and the 2012 election, which, due to the Medicare debate this Spring and the debt ceiling debate, he termed as a period of "borderline insanity". He predicts that redistricting would simultaneously increase both the odds that Democrats will gain some seats in the House and the odds that Republicans will still keep the House. How can that be? The five new frontiers of redistricting: new census data, new technology, new reforms, new GOP control, new Dem oversight. The 5 states that could experience the most significant changes are IL, NC, TX, CA, and FL.

The program was teeming with insights and knowledge that are crucial to our profession!

 This year’s meeting was particularly interesting, as DDCA had the opportunity to co-host dinner where Eric Greitens, former Navy Seal, Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow, founder of The Mission Continues, and NY Times best-selling author of "The Heart and The Fist" was our speaker.  The group that gathered was most interested to hear about the Navy Seals recent raid on the Osama Bin Laden compound, the training and preparation that went into the assault and how the team overcame unplanned challenges.  He discussed the nature of the training that the Seals undergo, how it aided in overcoming those obstacles, and how the skills they learn are applicable to all of us at both the individual and organizational level. The character and poise that they demonstrate are particularly instructive and inspiring in difficult times like many face in our current economic climate. His presentation was truly extraordinary and, having been a member of his audience, certainly unforgettable.

We were also very excited to premiere our new video to the C100 attendees, which was very well received by many of our key clients!

Click here to read Eric Greitens biography.

What is the new advocacy reality?

Government relations professionals, lobbyists and political consultants should treat regulatory issues like legislative issues. It has been proven over and over again—issue campaigns that pursue effective advocacy and public affairs strategy yield results and win on issues. Typically, these campaigns are designed to impact legislative and political fights; however, things have changed. There are false assumptions that advocacy campaigns do not impact the federal, regulatory, or executive branch process. In order to treat regulatory issues like legislative issues, it is important to pursue a broader strategy.

What’s the broader strategy?

The broader strategy needs to include a combination of lobbying and advocacy. In 2007, Congress made sweeping changes to rules governing the lobbying industry. This resulted in lawmakers wanting to hear from, and listen to, local voices on how issues in Washington affect them. With the new advocacy reality, advocacy compliments lobbying and provides a local perspective to issues.

Political Context

In 2008, sweeping victories by Democrats paved the way for an ambitious agenda with the large majorities they occupied in Congress. However, Democrats made some tactical mistakes early on, which eventually stalled key pieces of their agenda, such as cap and trade, and the Employee Free Choice Act. Much of the first two years of the Obama Administration focused on the President’s health care reform bill and government involvement in the economy. In 2008, Republicans campaigned against much of that agenda and promised voters they would put the brakes on it. 

As public opinion polls showed that Democrats were in jeopardy of losing their majorities in Congress, the administration began preparing for a shift in their strategy, as noted in the Los Angeles Times last fall. Knowing that a divided government could be on the horizon, President Obama would work to achieve key pieces of his agenda via the regulatory and executive process. And as expected, Democrats lost control of the House and Republicans gained more seats in the Senate – a divided government.

Issues that had stalled in Congress, like regulation of carbon emissions, net neutrality and key labor issues, took center stage in the regulatory process. The GOP-led House has frequently fought to stall these efforts.

And heading into the 2012 election, it seems like one thing will remain regardless of the outcome: a divided government.

Leveraging the legislative process impacts regulations

As a key component to the broader strategy, a lobbying effort can pursue various legislative remedies to impact regulations via the legislative process. Bills, resolutions and amendments can be introduced to stop regulations, limit funding, or change existing law. Congress can also exercise their oversight authority to review these regulations.  Advocacy serves to raise awareness of the issue.

In Depth

Traditional advocacy, grassroots, and public affairs strategies and tactics impact the regulatory process just as they do in legislative and political fights. These strategies can be implemented in a variety of ways – either online of offline. Our experience shows that these strategies are most effective when plugged into a coalition and work to compliment a larger lobbying play.

In advocacy, there are is no shortage of tools in the toolbox that can be used to impact a regulatory battle as we discussed yesterday. However, it is important to know that more can be done than just generating high volumes of communications during open comment periods.

Using these tools can:

• Persuade internal policymakers involved in regulation
• Impact lawmakers
• Educate the media
• Mobilize constituents to take action
• Force agencies to go on the record

All of this will serve to complement a broader lobbying effort. Ultimately, our clients who have pursed this strategy win on key issues. If there are any follow up questions, please e-mail me at jbaca@DDCAdvocacy.com.

While it is hardly a surprise to see Mitt Romney continuing to lead the Republican hopefuls, digging a little deeper into the numbers provides some interesting clues on not only the candidates, but the issues that are going to shape the primary season. 

As the nation’s economic indicators continue to move in the wrong direction, the Romney campaign is seemingly gaining strength.  In fact, some inside the party believe that had he emerged as the 2008 nominee, Romney’s wealth of business experience coupled with the looming financial crisis would have made him more electable than either President Obama or Senator John McCain.  Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, the 2008 focus on U.S. foreign policy dominated much of the GOP primary season, and more moderate and populist candidates like McCain and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee were the candidates driving the conversation.

Flashing forward to 2011, the temperament and the appetite of the Republican Party has changed drastically.  Policy initiatives like the stimulus package and health care reform, along with the emergence of the Tea Party, have seemingly made Mitt Romney a moderate in the midst of a conservative tidal wave.  The mid-term elections in November were a telling sign that the country is losing faith in this administration, and becoming fed up with the out of control spending and regulation coming out of Washington. 

Though Romney’s polling numbers still look solid, it is becoming increasingly apparent that social and fiscal conservatives, who don’t quite believe in the former Massachusetts governor’s conservative credentials, are looking for an alternative.  While 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin remains undecided, she still seems to provide the most immediate threat to a Romney nomination.  Looking a little farther down the list, straight talking former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain has captured a little lightning in a bottle; Congressman Ron Paul is playing well to the libertarian base; and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, who officially announced her candidacy at last night’s debate, is clearly drawing support from Tea Partiers and conservative women across the board.

At present, only two things seem capable of derailing the Mitt Romney campaign from securing the Republican nomination, and neither is within his control. 

First, with Romney’s conservative credentials in question on everything from health care, to abortion and gun rights, staunch fiscal and social conservatives could begin to coalesce around a candidate like Congresswoman Bachmann or undecided Texas Governor Rick Perry.  As the months tick by, if enough current Cain, Bachmann, Santorum, Palin, and Paul supporters can get behind a single candidate, it might not just spell doom for Romney, but also provide a clear referendum on the future of the GOP.

Second, signs of an economic turnaround likely hurt the chances of a Romney nomination.  His candidacy appeals to many Republicans from a practical perspective, as he touts his business experience as essential to helping turn around a sagging economy.  Candidates like Palin, Perry and Bachmann have taken economic policy positions, but they are clearly far more focused on individual political ideology and principal.  None would have entertained the idea of the health care reform initiative Romney championed and guided into law in Massachusetts, as they have fundamental beliefs about what does and does not fall under the purview of government.  While an economic turnaround in the spring of 2012 would make President Obama a tough man to beat, should the jobs numbers and economic growth indicators begin to turn positive this fall, the campaigns will pivot to health care and the growth of government, at which point Romney begins to lose a lot of his appeal.

We are still early in the primary process and right now it appears to be Mitt Romney’s race to lose.  Going forward he’s going to have to overcome a fair amount of more conservative opposition, but what remains to be seen is how consolidated and organized that opposition can and will be.  For now, the economy and the rest of the Republican field are working in his favor. 

Tomorrow, DDC Advocacy will be hosting a lunch and learn session where I will be presenting what the new advocacy reality is. In sum, our presentation will focus on two things:

·         The need to treat regulatory issues like legislative issues;

·         How to effectively impact the regulatory process with advocacy strategies and tactics.

In 2007 Congress made sweeping changes to federal lobbying rules, which created a different landscape for influencing legislators. With these changes, now more than ever legislators want to hear from, and listen to, local voices on how issues in Washington impact them. Traditionally, effective lobbying strategies paved the way for victory. In working with clients, we have discovered this is no longer the case. Our clients are adapting and pursing a more robust and broader strategy. This broader strategy includes a combination of lobbying and advocacy. 

At tomorrow’s lunch and learn, we will dive into how clients who pursue this broader strategy win and win convincingly. To better understand how to succeed, we will be discussing the state of the current political environment and what it means to advocacy. What the general public thinks about the regulatory process. And finally, we will discuss how to best leverage the legislative process to impact the regulatory process.

We hope you can join us to learn more about this exciting opportunity!

RSVP to learnmore@ddcadvocacy.com!

Click here to read Juan’s extraordinary bio: Juan Zarate's Bio