These diaries pop up now and again and I figured it was time for another as we've had several recent call-outs for writing Congress, LTE's, and so forth. I wish to offer some guidelines and hope that others will contribute for the
sake of making letters and e-mails and LTE's as effective as they can be.
Perhaps kos or one of his Front Page Elves will distill all of this down and put it on dKosopedia (a cursory search did not find such a thing; if I overlooked it, then my remarks and others' Comments may be added, as the "Powers that e-Be" may see fit to do so.
My bona fides: a couple of short stints in a couple of Congressional offices (one GOP, one Dem) on Capitol Hill, a fellowship (as a semi-grunt) in a Governor's office, and a lifetime of campaigning, letter-writing, and so on...
So, yesterday, in this Diary --
http://www.dailykos.com/...
-- a Comment popped-up asking for a little advice on framing a letter or email to a CongressDrone (my term). To which I replied thusly:
1 Keep it short! One paragraph on one page!
2 Be polite, but firm.
3 Say something that the Capital Hillster can't equivocate on, like:
While it's apparent that President Bush violated Federal Law, FISA, and that the Administration's excuses for doing so change every week, what is not clear is whether you and Congress will do your sworn duty to protect the Laws and Constitution of the United States and hold this Administration accountable. I look forward to seeing your taking a Leadership Role in standing up for the Rule of Law in our country, as well as making vigorous inquiries into the President's personal responsibility in this Constitutional Crisis and crimes associated therewith.
With kind regards and appreciation, I am and remain,
Very truly yours,
Name
I received several complementary " 4's " for this and a nice comment or two. So, I got to thinking that it's time to "do guidelines" again. Here goes (again, please comment, add, critique, as you see fit -- these are just my experiences):
A Keep it short. Staffers who read these things, whether letters or emails, will roll their eyes with exhasperation when confronted with a letter that's more than a page long. It's just a fact of life, time and attention spans.
B Begin with a compliment, then go straight to the point. e.g. : "While I thank you Senator Snark for opposing White House efforts to criminalize the Bill of Rights, I must ask you to also vigorously oppose Senator Skeletor's attempts to officially designate California a 'Terrorist State'."
C Do not ask 'why?'. Just don't -- it gives 'em an opening to brush you off. They may very well do it anyway, but they don't need your help. Or, if you're going to ask "Why", then put the Capitol Hillster on the horns of a rhetorical ("Have you stopped beating your wife?") dilemma, as in:
Why, Senator Brownstain, would you support destroying the Bill of Rights and over 225 years of American Jurisprudence just to stay in Karl Rove's good graces? You are better than that, Senator, aren't you?
D Petitions Don't Have That Much Impact. I'm sorry to break this news to y'all, but they just don't: a sheaf of papers an inch thick with 18,220 names will usually get laid on top of someone's desk on a stack of other 1-3 inch thick sheafs of paper and paperwork, and then get buried under other large envelopes and paperwork. They're also generally seen as the "Lazy Person's Call to Action", as in, "Well, if they don't care enough to actually write a letter or even send a bleedin' email, then they must not really care that much about the issue. Right or wrong, that's the general feeling in the Congressional Offices that get these things.
D(1) On the other hand, there's nothing like TONS of Snail Mail, Faxes, and FedEx's piling up in a cramped Congressional office to get the attention of the targeted staff and Member. Really.
D(2) While those pre-printed "Astroturf" postcards get slightly more respect than petitions, Staffers see through them in about .0000023 seconds. Again, actual, individually-written (even if a general "template" message is used) s-mail, faxes, FedEx'd letters are best, by far.
E Most of what's set forth above (short, to the point, clear, etc.) apply to Letters to the Editor as well. Just look at the NYT Letters page and see how those 1-2 paragraph letters get printed! They can even make good rhetorical templates for writing Congressman Bob Forehead, or your own, local paper -- but don't copy verbatim!
So, other ideas, advice?
BenGoshi
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