A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a diary called "The War In 'The Letters to the Editor Section". In the diary, I discussed the importance of writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. The diary did not make the recommend list, but was deemed worthy for Diary Rescue.
Last week, Bill in Portland Maine wrote a diary with an attached poll asking how many Kossacks wrote "Letters to the Editor". Out of 7,871 respondents, 45% said that they never wrote letters and 36% said rarely.
I said "WHAT THE FUCK!! PEOPLE!!". Fellow Diarist Civil Society was also ticked enough to write a diary called "80% of Kossacks don't write Letters-to-the editor?"
That is a sad and shocking result.
LTE's are an excellent way to communicate, advocate, and organize, epsecially on local issues. It is an excellent way to point out adn correct misleading stories in the main stream media. It is one of the most read sections of the paper.
Now most of you may think that newspapers are dead and that it would be a waste of time to write a Letter to the Editor. And all I can say is that you are SO WRONG.
Case in point is my stepfather. He is ex-military, he is a Democrat, and he hates Bush and Company. The flip side of this, is that he has no idea what DailyKos is or what we are trying to do.
He called me last night and asked me if I had watched "Meet The Press" Sunday morning and if I had seen this MARKOS guy. I told him, yes. Then he asked me everything that we are missing - "What is a blog and what NEWSPAPER does Markos write for?"
My stepfather is 58 years old. He is college educated. He watches John Stewart and Keith Olbermann, but still does not understand the political movement that is out here on the web. To him, politics is still reading the local newspaper and a national paper (Like me, he reads the New York Times on top of his local newspapers.) He does write letters to his local newspaper, the problem is that all of the Repugs in his town does also.
Do you get it folks?!?!? We can write and write all you want here at DailyKos or other blogs, but to REALLY change people's minds and state what we are trying to accomplish, you have to be writing letters to the editor of your local paper. Here, you are just preaching to the choir - literally.
So write now, stop what you are doing and write a letter to the editor of your local paper about a Democratic issue that you think you can make a point of in less than 200 words. Do it!
If you do not believe me, pick up a paper today and see all of the Republican talking points that are getting published. You know why? Because the RNC knows the power of the Letter to the Editor - those bastards have a damn webpage that streamlines the process. The Republicans understand what "Letters to the Editor" can do, why do you think there is still 25% that support this man.
My local Sunday newspaper publish one of my group's letters. The problem was it was up against four Republican talking point letters. Now if you are a local politician who still does not get this "blog" thing. What is your first impression of where your constituents stand on an issue? Now think what the constituents themselves may think. They may think that even though 75% of Americans are clearly against Bush, their neighbors are clearly not. So they better just stay silent.
Letters bred more letters. So if you are not writing them, then who is going to get the tidal wave started?
UPDATE: Per Alegre the Democratic Party also has a webpage to send Letters to the Editor. More proof of why we need to be doing this.