Lisa Britton Nelson: coaching the Republican farm team - Republican political action committee executive director - Movers and Shakers

With information highways and micromedia, the demand on politicians today is perhaps the greatest it has ever been. Officeholders and candidates future and present are in continual need of education on constantly changing issues, popular debates and the technologies affecting the political world.

One person who perhaps has the same impact on politics that Yogi Berra had on baseball is Lisa Britton Nelson, executive director of GOPAC, the Republican political action committee. She even thinks a lot like Berra in the way she imagines state and local politicians as the "farm team," training to someday run the country in the big leagues of Washington, DC.

Founded by Pete Du Pont 15 years ago, GOPAC's primary mission is to educate and train potential candidates for state, local and federal races in the nuts and bolts of political campaigning. "On a number of different fronts, we will take a candidate and teach them how to fundraise, how to analyze polling data, how to file an FEC report," she said. The training is an intense course using more than 42 different teachers from around the country who teach via the telephone and cassette tape.

The number of current and potential conservative leaders influenced by Nelson's work is not to be taken lightly. More than 1200 trainees attend GOPAC's seminars, 600 take part in the telephonic classes and more than 4000 incumbent legislators and candidates receive a series of educational cassette tapes.

For Nelson, the idea is not just helping members get elected. At the heart of GOPAC's philosophy, there is a drive to change the fundamental mind-set of Americans. "The battle is whether we want to become a welfare state in this country or not. I hope that becomes the driving force, because I think it takes into consideration crime and welfare, it encompasses everything. We can't have a civilization with 12-year olds having babies, 15-year olds shooting each other, 17-year olds on drugs and 18-year olds getting diplomas they can't read," she insists. "When you are born into this world, the first question you should ask is what can I do to make this country better. Not what is my country going to do for me."

The committee has attracted arrows from establishment media types. The Wall Street Journal labelled GOPAC a front for its leader, Republican Congressman Newt Gingrich, and likened it to a vehicle for buying votes in the House of Representatives. Nelson strongly refutes any such charges, "That's exactly what GOPAC isn't. We do not give money to anybody so that they owe us anything. We just train the candidates, they're not beholden to us."

For GOPAC, the last few years have been extremely flush. Between 1989 and 1992, it raised $5.2 million, of that money $16,000 was given to federal candidates while a hefty $500,595 was given to state and local candidates. Today, Nelson freely admits Bill Clinton is GOPAC's greatest asset. The 1994 outlook is strong, direct mail returns are as high as 36 percent and Nelson fully expects to reach the committee's fundraising goal of $2.3 million.

Nelson's record of success dates back to her years with the National Review. Her first job there was to increase the magazine's circulation -- which rose from 117,000 to 170,000 subscribers during her tenure. She then took the lead in developing the National Review Institute, a conservative think tank based on the philosophy of conservative pundit William F. Buckley, Jr. Reponse to that development was greater than expected. The Institute's first conference expected 200 guests -- turnout exceeded 900.

While Nelson's long-term goal of electing a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives (and Gingrich becoming its speaker) is truly long-term, she intends to succeed in educating a cadre of minor league players. So when they take their turn at-bat in the major leagues, they can hit a home run.

COPYRIGHT 1994 Campaigns & Elections, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group