We talk a lot on this blog about how to get Congresscritters to hear ordinary schlubs like us. I think that our phone blitz strategy worked well enough, but this guy offers what amounts to a hack (‘exploit’ if you’re a gamer) to get them to know your name right away. The secret is (SPOILER ALERT!) a pen and paper, but there is a little more than that so make sure to watch the vid. Note that he is the mayor of San Carlos, CA, and not the fellow of the same name who used to run CAIR.
PS: John’s post below made me want run a particularly awesome Rush video, but you get this instead. Next time!
kdaug
…to any god or government…
jl
He is the mayor of San Carlos, California?
!
OMIGOD
That is very near where I live
Help me help me. Sharia law will soon engulf me!
And I didn’t believe Gaffney! Now it’s too late!
Edit: that was a very good video.
General Stuck
For republicans use all upper case in crayon.
jl
I’m gonna write all my letters to them dang politicians a la Ahmad from now on.
freelancer
I heart Rush, aside from their Objectivist tendencies.
trollhattan
Wow, awesome vid. Didn’t learn this in civics (or accords).
polyorchnid octopunch
Well, I’m not really a big Rush fan, though I did own Hemispheres and 2112 when I was a kid. For my money, from this particular era I much prefer this song: Subdivisions.
Violet
That was great! It’s my understanding that letters take longer to get to Congresscritters because they have to be screened for white powder, etc. If it’s not a super urgent issue, this is a great plan.
I wonder what you do if you can’t sign your letter with one of those “I’m the center of a huge sphere of influence” signatures. I don’t think “Poster at Balloon-Juice.com” would work very well. :P
TooManyJens
Can it possibly still be the case that elected officials get too much spam to pay much attention to email? We do have pretty good anti-spam technology these days. I think those pre-written emails that advocacy sites have you send from their websites are probably pretty near useless, but I don’t see why a well-written, personal email should carry less weight than a letter on paper. That said, if I’m trying to contact elected officials about a vote that’s coming up soon, I like to fax, because I’ve had it ingrained in me for too many years that email doesn’t count.
WereBear
Our Maine Coon cat, Reverend Jim, is a huuuuuuge Rush fan. Any time one of their songs is played, he appears. If it’s a whole album, he settles in.
Querlvox
Hey, that’s my mayor!
Ruckus
@TooManyJens:
I think it’s because a piece of paper is harder to ignore. Email is easy to delete, to have screened. A handwritten letter takes time to write and it takes longer to read, well with my handwriting anyway. And that piece of paper has to be thrown out and carried out to get rid of it. Email? One button and it’s gone.
And most important it shows that you give enough of a shit to take the time and $.44 to send it.
I would think as a group to belong to, voting constituent would get their attention. Or, voting constituent, member of Democrats for America, or something like that might do it. But I’ll bet just a signature on a series of properly written letters would get attention.
eyelessgame
Ah, this one is much better – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrejJHPnVfk (and it was even better live in concert…)
keestadoll
To little is Rush lyrical wisdom used in post titles. I stopped dead in my skimming to read this post. Well done!
El Cid
I am aware of all epistolographical traditions.
Tim F.
@TooManyJens: Yes. SATSQ.
You also have to consider that every issue group has software that will compose an automatic email and send it in your name as soon as you click ‘ok’. It takes zero effort or thought and Congressional staff routinely get slammed by thousands of emails in an hour. I can assure you with 100% confidence that your email will not get taken seriously. Phone or write a letter.
TRNC
References to Rush are always appreciated. Getting ready to see them in Greensboro in April, same place I first saw them in ’81. Check out this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHYt0BqSwno
LarsThorwald
I have always agreed with this approach.
You wouldn’t e-mail a thank you note.
To show you are serious, you communicate by letter, handwritten, because the seriousness of the matter to you is reflected by the amount of time and effort a handwritten letter requires.