This is my first diary, so I hope it's ok.
I know a lot of people on this site write letters to the editor, which is great. It's a way to get your message out to a lot of people. And it's constructive -- sometimes it can be easy to get caught up in hand-wringing about the campaign. The truth is there is little we can do about the campaign, but we can still get our message out.
I've been sending out some letters to the editor, but since I live in NJ which is not a swing state, I've targeted national papers. It's way harder to get into them, but I feel like if I do it will be more useful.
So what I'm proposing is, everyone who is inclined to write letters, and who doesn't live in a swing state, send them to USA Today. I picked it because of the circulation, but the main thing is we should all send the letters to the same paper. The more letters a paper gets on a topic the more likely they are to publish at least one.
Also, to increase the chance of publication, they should be timely. I sent one on the exploitation of 9/11 by the Republicans and all the ways Bush has failed New York (No money, no cops, no Osama) today in response to the convention last night. I think that would be a good start -- if we concentrating on responding directly to the convention.
Also, try to make the letters specific but brief. They say you are more likely to get published under 250 words -- I would say shoot for even a little shorter.
People who live in swing states should of course target their local papers.
I hope people are interested in doing this because I think it's a good way to be active and work out those frustrations.