I and II, government organizations dedicated to promoting the wars employed early PR specialists. By the 1950s, corporations began to employ practitioners of a modernizing PR discipline to influence public opinion. By the 1960s, as media coverage played an increasingly important role in politics and institutions like political parties and unions became less effective at mobilizing the public, politicians and political organizations began using the techniques of PR to influence public opinion. First, beginning with President Kennedy's administration, the White House began employing public relations specialists to deal with the press and institutionalized a polling operation. Congress and the parties followed the lead of the executive branch, as did interest groups and a new breed of policy-oriented think tanks during the 1970s.
Opinion leadership is now the name of the game in Washington.
In short, it allows politicians, parties and political organizations to get their way. Although pandering to the public is not rare, it is far more common for political actors to attempt to change or influence political opinion for policy reasons. Partially as a result of this trend, the political media now focuses primarily on tactics, rather than policy detail. Pundits are the primary analysts of tactics. Their reach and influence has grown tremendously in recent years.