WASHINGTON -- Every Sunday morning, Ryan Donovan sings tenor inhis church choir where he blends his voice in with others. Duringthe week, however, he tries to make his voice stand out and bringattention to the cause of credit unions.

As CUNA's vice president of legislative affairs, the No. 2 spotin their lobbying operation, since last September, Donovan is apoint person on Capitol Hill for the organization's advocacy onissues such as regulatory relief and housing. There are sevenregistered lobbyists in Donovan's department and a total of 14throughout the association.

Although CUNA has a lot of friends on both sides of the aisleand large grassroots support, Donovan said the outcome of manylegislative fights is dictated by factors over which he has littlecontrol.

"We can do everything right from an advocacy perspective, butthere are still so many unknowns. Our job is to minimize theunknowns.''

It's a strategy that has paid off. Recently, Donovan led CUNA'sefforts on behalf of a measure that gave credit unions regulatoryrelief and broke a logjam with the banking lobby that threatened tokill the deal. Previously, the banking lobby had derailed a measureto provide regulatory relief to credit unions just hours before itwas supposed to be voted on.

But Donovan said he is careful not to draw too much attention tocredit unions. "The bright light of Congress burns the people onwhom it is shined as much as it helps," he said.

During difficult economic times, he noted that there is atendency for Congress to overreact, he added.

While CUNA's lobbying staff is well regarded on Capitol Hill, soare their counterparts in other parts of the financial servicesindustry. That's why Donovan goes into every legislativeundertaking with the same level of preparation as his beloved St.Louis Cardinals do before a game.

To attain regulatory relief and ensure that credit unions don'tget punished for the sins of the bad actors during the subprimeloan crisis, Donovan talks regularly with members and staffers.Although he makes his case firmly, he works especially hard to bean honest broker so lawmakers make informed decisions.

"My role is largely as a resource," said the 33-year-oldMissouri native.

Long gone are the days when lobbyists did a large chunk of theirwork over alcohol- and steak-filled lunches in restaurants filledwith cigar smoke.

For starters, smoking is banned in Washington restaurants. Also,Congress' ethics laws prohibit people lobbying Congress from payingfor anything more elaborate than an hors d'oeuvre or two.

Also, though CUNA is backed up by a vast network of creditunions in every congressional district and its political actioncommittee is one of the top givers, Donovan uses that clout subtly.He has an amiable demeanor and rarely raises his voice, preferringto let facts (or local credit union officials whom he oftenaccompanies during visits on Capitol Hill) to speak for themselves,he said.

That approach is not surprising given that he learnedlegislative politics from former House Majority Leader RichardGephardt, (D-Mo.), a tactician of whom it was often said was toonice to be in politics. Though Gephardt fell short of his goals ofbecoming president or House Speaker, he was able to get through alot of significant legislation on taxes and health care.

Donovan hooked up with Gephardt as a summer intern whileattending Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., after aplanned summer trip to Africa was cancelled because of violence inregion. Donovan later went on to earn a master's degree from JohnsHopkins University.

After graduating from Truman State, he joined Gephardt's officeas a staff assistant, the most junior position, and worked himselfup to being a legislative assistant.

While working for Gephardt, he joined the Wright PatmanCongressional Federal Credit Union and shortly thereafter became afan.

"On my first day, after I filled out all my new employee formsthe office manager said, 'The next thing you need to do is open anaccount at the credit union,'" he recalled.

But it wasn't until he left Gephardt's office to work for Rep.Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), a member of the Financial ServicesCommittee and strong backer of credit unions, that Donovan firstsaw the power of credit unions.

"I saw how well organized they were, and how capable they werein turn on the grass roots quickly," he said.

When he left Capitol Hill, he became the director of federalgovernmental affairs for the California and Nevada Credit UnionLeague. He was responsible for maintaining good relations with bothstates' delegations, which included powerful members such as HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader HarryReid (D-Nev.).

Those contacts came in handy last fall when CUNA, like othertrade associations, worked to improve their relations with theDemocrats who had recently recaptured the majorities in the Houseand Senate.

Donovan is philosophical about the demonization of lobbyists,that both presidential candidates, Sens. John McCain and BarackObama, have made a focal point of their campaigns. When he leftgovernment employment, he vowed to only lobby for causes hebelieved in and he thinks that those in his profession who do theirjobs well are serving a good cause.

"I take pride in the fact that my right to do my job isprotected in the same part of the Constitution as your right to doyours can be found," Donovan said.

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