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The National Association of Manufacturers’ Advertising Helps Lobby Congress Paul R. Huard Paul Huard is the senior vice president for finance and administration of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and is the association’s former senior vice president for public policy and communications. He was a fact witness for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a plaintiff, and testified on the association ’s issue advertising campaigns and the need for clear coordination definitions. To advance the interests of its members, the National Association of Manufacturers must regularly consult with members of Congress, officers of the executive branch, and others, including political party officials and current or likely candidates for election to federal office. At the same time, NAM must consult and work with a wide variety of other politically active organizations. The groups we work with range from other business associations to national labor organizations to citizen groups organized around specific policy views or objectives, depending on the issue. NAM has on occasion run broadcast issue ads. For example, on two occasions in the late 1990s we ran ads advocating support of the president’s tax proposals. In at least some of those ads we referred to the proposal as being that of the president, and that was an important element of our message. More commonly, however, NAM supports coalitions or similar groups that have formed around an issue or group of issues and that create and broadcast advertisements as part of their legislative or policy strategy. We may well support such groups with our own funds, and we also may contact our members to urge them to support group efforts. To give one example among many, in 1996 NAM participated in a nonprofit group of business associations known as the Coalition, which was formed to broadcast ads to respond to the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations’ (AFL-CIO’s) planned $35 million issue ad campaign . We urged our members to provide support, and they contributed about $2 million to the Coalition. 237 Views of the Advocates: Parties, Organized Groups, and Political Consultants 05 1583-8 part2b 3/25/03 12:01 PM Page 237 Our partners in legislative efforts can vary widely, depending on the issue. For example, our coalitions have worked with unions on issue ads on job-related issues such as drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or various Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations that restrict coal mining. Similarly, through the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, we have worked with various associations of senior Americans. NAM does not support issue ads as an end in itself. They are used to support some legislative or policy agenda. The effort to pass or defeat legislation also necessarily involves working closely with members of Congress and their staffs, as well as with political parties and others who take positions on legislation and policy. For example, during 1996 NAM participated in the Thursday Group, which was organized by Representative Boehner (R-Ohio) to advance the legislative components of the Contract with America. That group brought together various associations that supported the Republican legislative agenda and provided a forum for information exchange and planning. Boehner also brought in key members to discuss their areas of responsibility and interest. Members of Congress are elected to office. In selecting legislative and policy initiatives to support or oppose, they naturally must be concerned with the likely views of their constituents. Thus an important element of a legislative or policy agenda may be developing or demonstrating public support for or opposition to ideas or proposals. In some cases, it may be necessary to pursue a nationwide shift in public attitude. In other cases, what is needed is education targeting a few key districts or states. In some cases, the need is not to create a public position but to convince members of Congress that such a position already exists. NAM has supported issue ads for all of these purposes. NAM has run issue ads at times when there was no impending election. In broad terms, however, Americans tend to have greater interest in political matters as an election approaches. At the same time, elected officials are most attuned to the views of their constituents in the preelection period. Thus, the preelection season is a critical time for issue ads. Conversely , after an election, public interest in policy fades—perhaps because of fatigue. Thus few issue ads are run following an election. The timing of nonelection issue ads is driven...

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