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From	Message
vocihc 09-Feb-25, 14:37	Easy way to make your voice heard in the USA... Calling your representative is the best way to make your voice heard. Once your congressperson forms a public stance on an issue, it’s hard for them to walk it back. The earlier they hear your opinion, the more likely it is you’ll make an impact. This facilitates the process... 5calls.org
bobspringett 09-Feb-25, 15:12	I often send emails to my Member's electorate office. That gives me time to compose and structure better than in a spoken conversation, and also allows for the fact that Members are very busy people; you have to be lucky indeed to speak to the Member in person. Usually it's a matter of putting something there that a staff member thinks is worth passing on; otherwise you'll get a 'response' composed by a staffer and the Member will do no more than sign it as part of his daily stack. Once I have been called by the Member himself to discuss the issue, another time I have received a lengthy written reply addressing each part of my letter; this was certainly NOT just a staffer putting out a pre-digested response. At the very least I have a response that will show that the issue I raise has at least registered on the Member's list of "Issues that matter to my constituents". The key element is balance. Don't just repeat a slogan or someone else's five-second grab, but use your own words and preferably a slightly different angle of approach. Don't dip into party criticism or praise, but address the issue on its own merits. Provide one argument for each critical point, but don't list them ad nauseam or tick off every step along a syllogism. These show you're not just part of a massive mail-out, but you think for yourself. These are the people that politicians know as 'opinion-leaders', likely to swing votes, rather than 'opinion consumers' who just do as they are told and therefore represent no potential to swing an election either way. Maintain respectful language (even towards those whose ideas you criticise) and good conversational grammar, with neither expletives nor fancy flourishes. Remember to spell-check. End by thanking him for his time and asking for his personal response (NOT his party's response). Generally a signature on a petition represents a hundred people whose vote is already decided for every one that might swing. A phone call represents perhaps a 50 to 1 ratio. A letter that is effectively a copy of someone else's press release or urging (and when the office gets a hundred such letters every day, it's not hard for them to tell these out from the rest!) is perhaps one in 20. But a personal letter that follows the outline above is seen as a genuine thinker, able to swing his own vote and probably several others. That's what 'the guy with the tie' needs to know if he is looking for re-election.

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