ABA's Grassroots Specialist Builds Lobbying Powerhouse

Historically, the American Bankers Association has been to lobbying what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are to football.

"We used to have a joke," said veteran lobbyist James Butera. "If it's the banks versus anybody, bet anybody."

Today, no one's laughing at the nation's biggest bank trade group.

"The difference between the ABA's grassroots effort from 10 or even five years ago is night and day," Mr. Butera said. "They've turned into one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington."

The quarterback partially responsible for ABA's comeback is Sharon L. Raymond. As director of grassroots programs, Ms. Raymond has created a formidable offense.

Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., discovered this when he tried to push through an amendment that would have curbed the Comptroller of the Currency's authority to grant banks new powers. An ABA lobbyist learned of the plan at midnight. By 11 a.m. the next morning, Ms. Raymond's five- person staff had rallied 2,000 bankers and lobbyists to defeat it.

A part-time actress and writer, Ms. Raymond, 37, is naturally expressive. But there's a firm sense of structure in her upbeat voice. She often frames her ideas into groups of threes, like bullet points.

"When we started, we wanted to do three things," Ms. Raymond said. "We wanted to broaden the base of participation, enhance the level of political awareness, and put technology to work," she said.

With her boss, ABA chief lobbyist Edward L. Yingling, Ms. Raymond mapped out a strategy in 1987 to keep bankers informed of key legislative issues and rally their support when needed. Nearly 10 years later, she gets high marks from ABA management and bankers alike.

"Sharon is as good as anyone in this town at running (the grassroots) system," said Mr. Yingling. "She brings great enthusiasm, and she's willing to do all the detail work that's necessary to have a good system."

Mr. Yingling cites the Solomon amendment as one example of Ms. Raymond's success.

"I know we can go down and say, 'Sharon, we need to move on something, and we've only got two hours,' and she's built a system that can do that," he said.

James M. Culberson Jr., chairman of First National Bank and Trust of Asheboro, N.C., and a former ABA president, praised Ms. Raymond as a motivator.

"Her memos are worded with such clarity that you can really understand the issue," he said. "She has the ability to act like a coach or manager. She's like 'Time to go, guys! Let's go get 'em!'"

Part of Ms. Raymond's success may be that she's genuinely excited about things most people wouldn't be - such as creating and maintaining data bases.

"What we've done is mesh high tech with good old fashioned person-to- person, look-'em-in-the-eye grassroots," Ms. Raymond explained in an interview. "It's easy for people to generate a lot of noise nowadays. Everybody can send out all these faxes and phone calls. But you still have to find a way to distinguish yourself."

The ABA distinguishes itself by only using its grassroots force when absolutely necessary.

"One of our principles is you don't cry wolf too often," she said. "You can't shriek 'aaargh!' every single time, or you'll lose credibility. We really try to target what we do, and we do that through our data base."

She also demands attention to detail and consistency. "It sounds so obvious," she said. "Get organized, and spell people's names right, and work really hard. But the challenge is doing it well over the long term and getting consistency going. It's building a tradition, almost."

The tradition starts with Ms. Raymond. When she was hired 10 years ago, the organization had only a part-time clerk working on grassroots issues.

Today, the five-person staff coordinate Washington news for ABA members and help 2,000 "contact bankers" develop relationships with members of Congress. In conducting a campaign, Ms. Raymond and her team work together.

"Everyone's got to know what they're doing," she said. "When something comes up, we know who's doing the writing, the proofing, the faxing, the calling, the tracking. Nobody asks stupid questions or whines or complains. We just go."

With the process in place, Ms. Raymond's team can devote attention to creativity, she said. When bankers wanted to reduce regulatory paperwork in 1992, her staff came up with the "Cut the Red Tape" campaign.

Bankers invited members of Congress to their institutions to view the paperwork burden firsthand. Ms. Raymond also got many banks to wrap red ribbons around their buildings to bring customers' attention to the problem. People around town are still using the red-handled scissors ABA distributed.

Ms. Raymond cited the campaign as a turning point for the group's grassroots.

"People thought we were crazy when we started it, that we had no chance," she said. "But we had great success with it and have been able to build on it."

She said criticism of the ABA's campaigns as being weak until this year is unfair. "While we've been getting a lot of good newspaper coverage this year, it's really been a steady, cumulative process," Ms. Raymond said. "Banks have seen some success, they've seen the process work, and they want to do more campaigns."

Mr. Shea writes for the Medill News Service.

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