The power Ruzicka wields has stirred resentment, but she came by her influence honestly and in the most American of ways — by utilizing the forces of democracy more effectively and energetically than her opponents.

It begins with her phone/e-mail tree, which she created years ago as a way to rally and mobilize support quickly. "I knew the most important thing was to notify people," she says, "but how? We didn't have the Internet 15 years ago, but everyone has a phone. How do you call everybody? Well, everyone can call five people, so I sat down, got out paper and made a phone tree."

When she wants, for instance, to rally support for a certain bill, she calls her Eagle Forum secretary, who, in turn, sends a fax to the phone tree chairman, who faxes 30 or so chapter presidents throughout the state, who then call five people, who call five more people, who call five more people. In addition to making the five calls, they also call one legislator.

"I am astounded by how many people it reaches," says Ruzicka. "A legislator will say, 'Last night I received a hundred phone calls.' Or the secretaries at the Legislature will say, 'The phones were so tied up all day, we couldn't make a call.' "

There is no membership per se in Eagle Forum, another of Ruzicka's organizational wrinkles. Membership, she says, would give the impression they're closed to non-members. The phone tree is fueled strictly by word of mouth — the callers knows others who share their views and want to be involved. Non-membership also means that those who receive the calls have the option not to participate. In that case, the caller simply calls the next person on the list.

"I want people to pick and choose what they're interested in," says Ruzicka, who keeps Eagle Forum participants informed about issues and candidates with annual conferences, e-mail, newsletters and monthly chapter meetings. "Some people may agree 100 percent on pro-life, but not on education. Well, I don't care. I want them to be involved in things that are important to them. We tell our callers, here's the issue, here's our position, if you agree, call, if not, don't call."

This is how Ruzicka and her colleagues — who are almost all women ("Because the men are at work," says Ruzicka) — rally support for or against bills and candidates, encourage people to attend mass meetings and legislative sessions about a particular bill and call representatives to urge support of their agenda. This ability to mobilize people is the source of much of Ruzicka's influence. Eagle Forum participants attend en masse neighborhood caucuses in which delegates are chosen for county and state conventions, which is where candidates are chosen. This helps put their own candidates in office, or candidates who support their agenda.