Years ago I would have laughed at that. No more.
It's been a decade or more since the local paper last called to verify my authorship of letters to the editor. I e-mail the letter in, and usually within a couple of weeks it appears in the paper.
And more legislators know who I am than I do they. (Of course, they usually know me as the faceless author of letters about legislation that the goodwife delivers personally and lobbies on -- it was interesting to make the rounds in Olympia early this year: when I was introduced there was most always this "Oh, so YOU'RE..." reaction.)
Write them letters. Short and to the point (*never* ramble, never rant).
And thank them for their response (if you possibly can) -- they get too few thanks, ever, from constituents. Those who do thank them will get remembered. And more attention in the future.
I have made a difference in the laws governing this state. Certainly not as much as I would like, but things are better than if I had done nothing at all.
I have to be ever mindful of CFIDS and how it controls my life, or I would be much more active in all things than I am.
Good on ya!
I haven't written a legislator in awhile, but I lobbied locally against a proposed daytime curfew ordinance and helped get it shot down. Got a letter published in the paper with fresh-off-the-press research results in a study of the effects of daytime curfew ordinances. After that, support trailed away into the ether and the proposal was abandoned. The Mayor and the Chief of Police weren't all that happy, but they accepted the researchresults as proof that the venture wouldn't have achieved their stated goals anyway, and they moved on.
Much of my present-day lobbying is in the realm of ideas out in the forums. As much as I can do between various work activities, anyway.
Link here and track up for the progression of debate.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1518260/posts?page=71#71
I am about due for a letter to my Legislators, though. I'll have to dig around and see what mischief they've been up to this month.