Businesses look for new ways to impact political campaigns

Political groups are looking for the next big thing when it comes to reaching supporters, and pro-business organizations are no different.

TV ads, direct mail and automated phone calls have flooded the air waves, mailboxes and inboxes in recent elections, and groups are increasingly looking for new avenues to reach like-minded voters.

Blogs exploded as a campaign tool in the 2006 election cycle, and business groups are turning to the Internet to help organize employers for their cause.

"You've got to keep trying something new," said James Buchen, vice president of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

The traditional ways for business groups to get involved politically are pretty straightforward: Endorse candidates, bundle contributions to favored politicians, and pay for broadcast ads, direct mail and automated calls.

That method may have been best exemplified in this spring's state Supreme Court race, which set a record with $5.8 million spent, according to a tally by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The candidates accounted for less than half of that amount as outside groups spent an estimated $3 million.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce pumped an estimated $2.2 million into the race, making it the biggest spender. The group ran ads emphasizing Linda Clifford's lack of experience as a judge, spots that were considered a key in Annette Ziegler's landslide victory.

Big bank accounts help

"If you've got a big bank account, you can make a big splash in those races," said Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe, whose group tracks campaign spending and donations and advocates for campaign finance reform.

But Buchen said research shows that voters don't make up their minds based only on one piece of direct mail or a TV ad they may see. Rather, they process the impressions they get of a candidate from multiple sources that they then use to form their opinions. A 30-second TV ad doesn't provide enough time for in-depth information for a candidate, he said.

That's part of the reason why WMC plans to ramp up its Prosperity Project for the upcoming election cycles. The effort encourages employers to provide information to their workers on what issues affect their businesses and how lawmakers stand on those issues.

Election laws prevent employers from electioneering to their employees or drawing conclusions for them.

Buchen said in addition to the Prosperity Project Web site WMC maintains, the group is also offering to set up personalized sites for companies to provide information to their employees.

"You do have to constantly think of new ways to reach people," Buchen said.

Creative communication

The Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin, which supports limited government and free markets, organized an October rally at the state Capitol on the budget. In years past, the group may have written a letter to its 11,000 members, stuffed envelopes and put out a mass mailing to drum up interest.

But this fall, the group sent an e-mail - at virtually no cost - to members within hours of finalizing the decision to hold the rally.

AFP-Wisconsin State Director Mark Block said voter outreach is rapidly changing thanks to the Internet. Former Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean popularized using the Web for a campaign and the explosion of blogs in 2006 gave political groups a new tool to use in spreading their message.

Block said the question now is what's next? One of the organization's state chapters is experimenting with e-mailing podcasts to supporters. The digital recordings, which can be e-mailed, offer another avenue to catch someone's attention.

He said it can be challenging to get the attention of business people over e-mail considering the volume of electronic messages many of them receive every day. His organization has created a vice president of new media at the national level to find new ways to reach out to supporters, and the Wisconsin chapter plans a revised Web site to be unveiled later this year designed to keep those interested in the group's issues coming back.

"What is tomorrow's world? We're putting a lot of effort into trying to figure that out," Block said.

JR Ross is the editor at WisPolitics.com.