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[F]irst, you walk into the room with the CEO and you hit the key issues. Then you sit in closer to them. And you make ‘the ask.’ You look right into their eyes and say, ‘As a result of what the Chamber is doing for your industry, I need a hundred thousand dollars.’ Or, ‘I need a million dollars.’ And then you smile and you shut your mouth. Your instinct is to start talking because you’re nervous. Don’t. Just smile and stare. And wait.
How Tom Donohue, the leader of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, draws money from donors.
The kicker to the above, as told by a former lobbyist for the trade organization:
“The lobbyist, who’d been trained well by Donohue, leaned forward and stared at me as I sat listening. I became nervous. I shifted in my chair. I started laughing, then stopped. He just stared. After a long pause he leaned back and said, “I tell you, there were people in that room who pissed in their pants.”
The full article from the Washington Monthly can be found here.
