AIPAC President Howard Friedman told the organization members in August 2006: "AIPAC meets with every candidate running for Congress. These candidates receive in-depth briefings to help them completely understand the complexities of Israel predicament and that of the Middle East as a whole. We even ask each candidate to author a position paper on their views of the U.S.-Israel relationship—so it is clear where they stand on the subject."

Tom Hayden was antiwar figure who ran for a seat in California Assembly in early 1980s. He explains how he won support from local power broker Michael Berman on condition that he would always be a "good friend to Israel." Hayden won the election. He notes that he "had to be certified kosher, not once but over and over again. The certifiers were the elites, beginning with rabbis and heads of the multiple mainstream Jewish organizations... An important vetting role was held as well by... [AIPAC], a group closely associated with official parties in Israel. When necessary, Israeli ambassadors, counsels general and other officials would intervene with statements declaring someone a friend of Israel."

Harry Lonsdale was Democratic candidate who ran unsuccessfully against Senator Mark Hatfield (R-OR) in 1990. He described his own visit to AIPAC headquarters during that campaign. "The word that I was pro-Israel got around," he writes. "I found myself invited to AIPAC in Washington, D.C., fairly early in the campaign, for discussions. It was an experience I will never forget. It wasnt enough that I was pro-Israel. I was given a list of vital topics and quizzed (read grilled) for my specific opinion on each. Actually, I was told what my opinion must be, and exactly what words I was to use to express those opinions in public... Shortly after that encounter at AIPAC, I was sent a list of American supporters of Israel... that I was free to call for campaign contributions. I called; they gave, from Florida to Alaska."

John V. Evans was former Idaho governor. He tells similar story about his 1986 campaign against incumbent Idaho Senator Steven Symms. He visited AIPAC headquarters. According to Evans they "emphasized constantly that they were not a PAC (political action committee)... But they noted that there were Jewish organizations all over the country that had their own PACs and that if we could contact them, they would be able to help us." According to Wall Street Journal AIPAC "steered Mr. Evans to a series of supposedly independent organizations—many of them run by people with ties to AIPAC—that gave him $204,950 for his losing race."

Source: The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy