Podesta Group

When asked this week what he expected Congress to finish this year, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) wryly replied, “Postal reform.” While the senator may be engaging in a wild form of understatement, conventional wisdom inside the Beltway is that many of the must-do items and big picture ideas will not be tackled until at least a post-election lame duck session, or well into the next Congress.

For a lot of companies, industries, associations and other interests eager to make their mark in tax reform, spending or a vast array of other issues, this will require a shift in strategy that ensures decision-makers hear their messages. Instead of relying purely on the shoe leather lobbying that may have served them well in Congresses past, advocates may find that state-by-state communication and outreach campaigns will yield better results in the current political climate.

After all, shoe leather lobbying reaches senators, representatives and their staff members, all of whom may be inclined against taking action on important issues this year. State and local media outreach makes the case to constituents who can, in turn, communicate their views to their senators and representatives, often with an added push from “grasstops” lobbying campaigns.

Consider two of the federal government’s major responsibilities — collecting taxes and spending revenues — and how the stage is being set for 2013. Imagine a months-long series of hearings on corporate tax reform, and the massive, dangling ax of sequestration hanging over federal defense and non-defense programs. Picture how your company or industry will be portrayed in the endless parade of charts and graphs on the House and Senate floors. Contemplate how you will position your point of view with lawmakers who are seeing an endless stream of advocates.

The campaigns that survive these scenarios will likely be those that have the most potent messages, delivered in a serious, steady drumbeat by the most credible sources — sources that cannot be overlooked for their power to move the needle, such as lawmakers’ knowledgeable and trusted allies in home states and districts. A home state media and grasstops effort, finely tuned and well managed, can elevate public support for issues where it matters most for lawmakers — on the editorial pages of local newspapers, in union halls and VFW clubs, in town hall meetings and on activist message boards.

With the political stakes so high in 2012, 2013 and the years ahead, those who are contemplating business as usual on the advocacy front may likely end up with little to show for their efforts.

Those who make their case to the media of all kinds on the state and local, as well as national, level stand a far better chance to move public opinion — and shape public policy — on important issues for years to come. Think long-term. Go local.