...A groundbreaking FORTUNE
survey reveals who belongs to lobbying's elite and why they wield so
much clout.
Our survey rebuts one of the oldest axioms of lobbying: that campaign contributions
buy power in Washington. ... [T]hese days, interest organizations are valued
more for the votes they can deliver. Most of the Power 25 have large numbers
of geographically dispersed and politically active members who focus their
energies on a narrow range of issues. ... In this era of low voter turnout,
that kind of commitment can mean the difference between victory and defeat
in close elections, which translates into real heft on the legislative front....
Fully half of the top ten groups in the FORTUNE survey were propelled
there on the strength of their long-established grassroots networks....
...[T]he anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee is No. 10,
while the pro-choice National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League,
or NARAL, is lost in the crowd at No. 43....
"Washington's Power 25" by Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, Fortune
magazine, December 8, 1997
The proposed ban on "PARTIAL-BIRTH" abortions ... is the work
of one of Washington's least well-known but most influential lobbyists.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee,
has had a guiding hand in pro-life strategy for over a decade. "You
have to have him in the room," says family-values activist Gary Bauer,
"whether you're trying to block the other side or move the ball down
field."
Johnson commands enormous respect on Capitol Hill. When congressional aides
talk about him, they use words not usually ascribed to lobbyists"honest,"
"thorough," "trustworthy," "scrupulous," and
"composed." He also has an unrivaled knowledge of congressional
voting records on abortion-related issues. ... But what really sets him
apart from the herd of workaday lobbyists is the passionate conviction he
brings to the job.
"The Lobbyist for Life" by Matthew Rees, The Weekly Standard,
March 25, 1996.
In the last President's Column I stated, "Our charge as pro-lifers
is nothing less than to confront, reject, and subvert the culture of death
and replace it with God's culture of life." The cultural conversion
will come both from private, individual action and the combined public voice
and "politics" of committed and thoughtful pro-lifers.
As an intermediate goal, we need to change the terms of the public debate
on abortion and euthanasia, frustrate the designs of the purveyors of death
by "choice," and promote pro-life policies and laws that advance
the right to life. To do that we must seek (and wisely use) "public"
power so that we can influence the formulation of public policies and reshape
our culture. Not only do we have a right to do that in the "marketplace
of ideas," we have the obligation to do it.
The above quotes demonstrate that we are making progress along these lines.
NRLC has, indeed, changed the terms of the debate, especially with the partial-birth
abortion ban. NRLC's legislative and legal work has earned us respect, sometimes
grudgingly rendered. NRLC is taken seriously in Congress; that is, we are
respected and consulted by our friends and furiously attacked by our opponents.
In other words, NRLC has "clout" as Fortune magazine's
"authoritative, impartial, empirical survey" found out.
Those of you who have read Fortune magazine's survey will have noticed
that among the 120 lobbying and interest groups important enough to make
the list, there are only two organizations with a pro-life orientation:
the single-issue National Right to Life Committee (No. 10) and the
multi-issue Christian Coali-tion (No. 7). NARAL "is lost in the crowd
at No. 43." Planned Parenthood is at No. 65. And the pro-abortion League
of Women Voters (LWV) is at No. 93. (Common Cause, which, along with
the LWV, wants to silence and gag groups like the National Right to Life
Committee in the name of campaign finance "reform," is stuck at
No. 91.)
These rankings by Fortune are based on a survey conducted by two
professional pollsters, Democrat Mark Mellman and Republican Bill McInturff.
They reflect the opinions of "2,200 insiders, including members of
Congress, their staffs, and senior White House officials." With regard
to NRLC's reputation, the opinions of these "insiders" are in
stark contrast to the perception fostered by the institutional media, according
to which pro-lifers are a scattered band of unsophisticated rubes whom nobody
takes seriously. Like so many other deceptions perpetrated by pro-abortionists,
this one, too, has become a self-deception. It's getting close to
the point where they are the only ones believing their lies.
In short, the National Right to Life Committee is the most effective single-issue
pro-life organization in the country today. Our opponents know it. You and
we here at NRLC know it. Clearly, your financial contributions to NRLC are
a wise and fruitful investment in the pro-life cause.
Of course, even without a poll of insiders, this has been evident for quite
some time. Let me quote from my first President's Column in the June 1991
issue of NRL News:
USA Today has correctly called NRLC "the most powerful" pro-life
organization in the nation because we have today in our national office
the best group of pro-life professionals to be found anywhere. ... This
great team of proven ability magnifies and channels the hard work of grassroots
pro-lifers. ... There are among us people with exceptional talent, people
who have made enormous contributions to our noble cause, people who have
worked tirelessly and at great personal sacrifice to save the innocent but
in the end, success will come to this movement only if we combine, coordinate,
and submerge our individual efforts in an effective strategy. This is truly
a case where the whole is more than the sum of its parts. My goal in this
movement is to harness the diverse talents and the energy of pro-lifers
everywhere in order to give us victory over abortion and euthanasia. And
I believe NRLC is the foremost instrument of such a strategy. NRLC has been
central to the success that the pro-life movement has had in this country
to this day.
Six years later, this statement is as true as ever. You and I know the difference
between good intentions and effective pro-life work. You and I understand
that time in the pro-life vineyard must be well spent, money and resources
must be used responsibly, strategies must be smart and wise, individual
efforts must be combined and focused for the benefit of the larger goal.
That's why we are members of NRLC. That's why our opponents want to silence
us and dry up our resources. Don't let them. We are winning!