When President Bush asked Ann Wagner to co-chair the national Republican party, she experienced a moment of disbelief. “I could not believe they wanted a suburban mother of three,” Ms. Wagner, who was then the chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party, recalls. “But they wanted a real, tried-and-true soccer mom.”

Ms. Wagner fits squarely into that demographic: She shuttles her three children, ages 9, 14, and 15, to their many respective sports practices (including soccer) in a green Ford Astro minivan.

And it is the children that motivate her political work. “I talk about my kids in my speeches,” she said. “I do this because of them. I want a brighter future for them.” She also brings them along on business trips.

But the 41-year-old St. Louis native becomes a barracuda when it comes to politics. She has a forceful desire to organize voters and win elections. When she talks about it, her dulcet-toned voice takes on a gritty, determined quality.

“You get involved in politics because you want to shape policy. But you cannot do that unless you win elections,” she said.

Indeed, it was her ability to deliver victories that first brought her to the attention of the national party leadership. During her tenure as the chairwoman of the Missouri party, the GOP took control of the state Senate, and the state’s congressional delegation. Her party-building work also contributed to Mr. Bush’s win in Missouri – which earned her a spot in the hearts of the GOP big timers.

Ms. Wagner is intensely inspired. “My job is to grow the ranks of the Republican party,” she says with pride. “I feel very strongly about our country and democracy.”

Getting Missourians to turn out for Republicans, she says, boils down to a straightforward belief in reaching out: “There’s no great secret. It’s one-on-one contact. You need to draw them in.”

Ms. Wagner’s approach to gaining votes in large volume is to start small: local, neighbor-to-neighbor work. Her first post in the party was the Lafayette Township Republican Committeewoman, which she describes as “the most grass-roots office you can be elected to.”

That process requires strategy, and Ms. Wagner knows a little something about that, too. She attended the University of Missouri on a vocal performance scholarship (as a second soprano), but she knew that she’d have a limited music career and instead pursued a business degree with a specialization in logistics. After working for Hallmark, in its export division, and for Ralston Purina, as a distribution specialist, she took her corporate experience to the public sector.

Her training as a performer has come in handy when giving speeches, but it was the practical, corporate way of thinking that she says best translates to her world now. “In business, you make a plan, and stick to it, but you’re flexible enough to alter it. You make it work, and you put measures on it.”

Advice is something that Ms. Wagner gives a lot of, and for good reason. She’s the kind of woman who makes you think, “How does she do it?” She’s got an answer:

“You can have it all, but not all at once,” she said. “All my kids were born on off-election years. You can be pregnant on a campaign, but you can’t be giving birth.”

The perfectly groomed Ms. Wagner, who adores gold jewelry and favors feminine suits by labels like Kay Unger and Albert Nipon, radiates an excited energy when she’s talking about politics and strategy. But it’s all evenly balanced against the friendly, womanly mien of a well-dressed super mom. In discussing her home life, it is clear that she is profoundly passionate about being a wife and mother. When asked about her hobbies, she said with pride, not resignation or irony: “My hobbies are my children’s hobbies.”

To describe the respect she and her husband have for one another, she tells an anecdote about making the decision to accept or reject Mr. Bush’s offer. Ms. Wagner’s husband strongly urged her to take on the co-chairwoman role. “I made a list of 20 reasons why it would not work. He tore it in half once, and tore it in half again,” she recalls.

“Choose your partner in life very carefully. It’s the difference between happiness and despair.”

Despite her realistic, down-to-earth approach to her career, keeping up with the demands of such a high-level post hasn’t been easy. For the last three and a half years, she has traveled between Washington and her home in Ballwin, Mo., on a weekly basis to maintain all of her commitments. But even on that score, she’s relentlessly positive.

“The travel hasn’t exhausted me. It has energized me,” she says.