Former lobbyist Marvin Umholtz said credit unions shouldn't fearthe new Friends of Traditional Banking PAC, saying it has beenmislabeled as a Super PAC, and will function “more like a scalpelthan a battle axe.”

The new PAC will select one or two campaigns per election cyclein which it can influence the outcome, said Umholtz, president/CEOof Umholtz Strategic Planning & Consulting Services in Olympia,Wash.

It will either support or oppose a candidate, and rather thancollect money, it will direct individuals to have made pledges tothe PAC to write checks directly to the candidate'scampaign.

“One or two races an election cycle can send a strongmessage, but it cannot make a wholesale change to the House orSenate,” Umholtz said. “Also, if the credit union lobbyists weremore candid about it, they would likely agree 99.9% of thetime with Friends as to whom the financialindustry enemies are in Congress. They are just as likely tobe enemies of credit unions, too.”

Umholtz added that he doesn't think any bank or credit PACsshould be funding any campaigns of those who voted in favor ofthe Dodd-Frank Act.

“In my book, the Dodd-Frank supporters were all enemies ofbanks and credit unions,” he said.

John McKechnie, former NCUA and CUNA lobbyist who now works forthe Washington consulting firm Total Spectrum, said he's“concerned” about the Friends group, but said he's “confident thatcredit unions can cover all the bases politically, both with moneyand grass roots support.”