“I’ve been fighting this issue for years and I don’t want to spend any more political capital on it.”
Last week I heard this summation for likely the thousandth time in my career. It happens all the time. An advocacy team starting to feel burned on an issue decides it may be time to walk away. It’s nothing new.
But I don’t buy into that kind of thinking.
I’ve written on this blog, and shared in my advocacy seminars, countless times about just how LONG the American political process can take. But it always bears repeating, because like you I’ve been burned out on issues too. When I’m reaching that point I always remind myself that the average length of time for a piece of federal legislation to become law is 7.5 years. That’s the AVERAGE.
Who’s got time for that?
Well you, if you’re putting yourself into the right mindset.
Yes, there are times to stop fighting. Yes, there are times when your issue is going nowhere. Yes, there are limits to how far you can really go with a cause.
But none of that means you can’t get anywhere for your issue. But too often, defeatism sets in well before you reach the limit of your effectiveness in advocacy. Years ago, I would commonly call it out as an unfortunate byproduct of the microwave oven. We’ve lived for decades now with the ability to near instantaneously address even complex cravings. But useful tools like the microwave have also made us exceedingly impatient. They’ve also helped us forget that putting in the reps matters.
I like talking even tangentially about the issues I’m working toward. I like pointing to overlapping interests. I see every interaction in my areas of focus as an opportunity to make a pitch. Probably because I’m seeing those moments as tiny investments that can yield big returns.
Politics and advocacy is first and foremost a relationship game. Building those relationships takes time, it takes effort. But few seek out the opportunities to align their causes with what other people care about. Few are willing to spend a little of their capital to help someone else’s grow. Few are eager to use more time and effort without the promise of a reasonable outcome. Far too many see it all as a zero-sum game where when one side wins, the other must lose.
I see it manifest regularly when I listen to how prospective advocates describe successful – or more commonly unsuccessful – engagements with those they’re seeking to influence. If they want Congressman John Doe to co-sponsor a bill, and the Congressman doesn’t, the average advocate will default to that as a negative outcome. But that’s just not quite right.
In very few areas of life do we enjoy instantaneous success. On the athletic fields, in the classrooms, and in our personal development each of us faces setback after setback. But because we like to swing a golf club, we don’t let one bad round turn us away from the enjoyment of the sport. Yet somehow we’ve decided that the same shouldn’t apply for the causes we hold near and dear. For some reason, missing out on an instant win in advocacy is an irreversible failure.
That doesn’t track.
I’m going to challenge you – and advocates I train in the future – to start thinking more intentionally about how they describe the use of political capital. Because politics isn’t a zero-sum game. Every chance we get to talk about, or around, our issue is an opportunity. A chance observation the 37th time you’ve talked about your cause with a target may just be the hook that grabs them and wins them to your side. Every time we willingly talk about our big, audacious goals is ripe with the opportunity to build our credibility in the eyes of those we seek to influence.
This is the difference between a growth mindset and a scarcity mindset in politics. Too many think political capital is scarce. I think the people who win in the long run will be those who believe there’s room for everyone to grow. Those are the coalition builders. Those are the problem solvers. Those are the people who keep showing up.
And those who show up hold the advantage.
Part of the Possible 