News Items

June 11, 2009

Recently I had the opportunity to meet with PAC managers representing a broad cross section of the PAC community. The setting was the 2009 Vocus Users Conference, a three-day, highly intensive series of lectures and hands-on training for managers of political action committees (PACs).  I came away from that exercise with a better sense of the caliber of the individuals who take on these important PAC management functions.

Going into the conference I surmised that these individuals represent a special breed of entrepreneur, meaning their work involves compliance, marketing, managing and communicating; all the things that involve running a business.  And these PACS are getting bigger.  The number of million-dollar-plus PACs continues to increase.  In terms of their background, most are the product of in-house training in PAC management and they receive compliance information and direction from their Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports analyst and the agency’s public information office as well as the state election law offices.  Several mentioned they are on newsletter distribution lists of various law firms with campaign law expertise.  All agreed they receive considerable scrutiny both from internal as well as external sources, meaning they get audited regularly.  All of these PAC managers acknowledge that their PAC Treasurers have to be properly served.  In summary, there is no question these individuals take on huge responsibilities, both financially as well as from a public relations standpoint. A PAC scandal can have severe repercussions.

But the real take-away message was loud and clear:  “Proficiency is important; honesty is essential.”  What is crystal clear is that while these men and women are really smart, outgoing, but most importantly they are HONEST, and this line of work that says it all.

These PAC managers understand they need to be savvy and careful, but more to the point, they know that there is no substitute for personal integrity, and that’s what makes them stand out.  I’ve spent many years in the PAC management field and this recent experience with these PAC managers once again renewed my confidence in the outstanding work they do. Trust and honesty are so important, and they have it.