It would be interesting to find out if people registered with the opposing party get ignored more than letters from voters of the same party or undeclared voters.
UHHHH...no. They work for themselves not you
The messsage they will always hear is the one you send in the voting booth.
They aren’t going to be swayed on the issues. If you want something, some kind of help with something, get a party committeeperson, or an influential minister, or somebody in local government to write a letter supporting yours and maybe you’ll make more headway.
And that is what counts as “representation”.
If they get enough letters saying they’re going to be hung if they come back home. Maybe.
The "voice" told me he thought McCain would consider such a suggestion to be antagonistic and hung up.
They are all RINO’s and are in for the money my two from NC act like NJ transplants.
I was a National Retail Sales Tax (now the FAIRtax) lobbyist in WDC FRom April, 1996 until February. 2004.
During that time, I was told by numerous House and Senate aides and by some Representatives and Senators, that they counted the correspondence as “Yeas” and “Nays” on whatever the particular subject happened to be. IOW, they created a “tally sheet,” and claimed to use these numbers to influence policy and voting behavior.
The rule of thumb was that 100 comments on a particular subject represented 1000 voters. The objective was to get enough support for the NRST (FAIRtax) such that the Congresscritter would co-sponser the legislation for fear that non-support would lead to election disaster next time around.
And, in some cases, we were successful in changing a few Congresscritters minds - but it was a struggle!
HST, the nine years I was in WDC were in an entirely different era. I don’t think that the hyper-partisanship we see now is conducive to Congresscritters adhering to the desires of their constituents except when seeking their vote.
Democrats, in particular, do PRECISELY what their leadership demands of them, irrespective of constituent desires. Republicans do also, but they are not in as lock step with their leadership as are Democrats.
I believe that, nowadays, constituent desires, wants, and needs are at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to Congresscritter voting, policy, positioning, etc. etc. priorities.
The objective of ALL lobbyists is to put enough pressure on a Congresscritter to get him/her to support whatever legislation/position/policy the lobbyist is lobbying for.
Writing big check is the best way to do that! Pay to play?
Letters, phone calls, emails, etc., etc. is, IMHO, not that successful a tactic, as the Mr. Beuke demonstrates - and he was an intern in 2004, the year I left WDC.
We, as conservatives, have to seek out, support and elect Congresscritters who view the world much as we do - it appears that once in office, they are not so persuadable!
Is it, indeed, a tale full of sound and fury signifying nothing?
The only way they listen is it they are flooded with angry birds phone calls.
“...Is there any point in writing to a congressperson? Are...they actually likely to affect...choices?...”
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;)/;)!!!!!!+
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Democrat war rooms write letters to OUR congressmen... pretending to be us. They write letters to their guys too. They would love it if we stopped.
So yeah, write the letters...
Your congress person NEVER reads what you send. Its processed by a member of a communication staff of which there are many. They scan your letter just enough to know the topic you are complaining about in order to know which precanned letter to send you in response.
Not a real letter from a real person, but Astroturf letters - mailed in large numbers under false pretenses - are reportedly effective both with politicians and corporations.
Pro tip: write or call your elected representatives as part of an organized group effort, not as an individual on an ad hoc basis. Better yet, be the one to organize the group!
Since you know the ropes, how about you help organize us freepers for notifying the congress criters. Post a vanity and get things started.
Just a thought.
Well, at least she talks about a form letter being sent in response. When I write to a legislative representative, I get no response at all, not even an acknowledgment.
As a former Congressional Aide I can tell you that much depends on what your letter is concerning.
If you are having problems with the bureaucracy - like the VA or or the Post Office - your letter will be given to the caseworker that handles those complaints/concerns. I handled military (not VA), IRS (those were fun), and Social Security (everyone handled some of those). I also oversaw the Academy appointments.
If you just wanted to voice concern on an issue, a phone call was as good as a letter - which is to say, not much. We did track the calls and opinions, but the Congressman used them to justify the position he had already taken, not to formulate an opinion.
He REALLY cared about things that were going to be coming before his committees - Judiciary and Foreign Affairs.
One of my jobs was to go through the Miami Herald, the Sun Sentinel, the NY Times and the Washington Post for any mention of the Congressman, his committees, or any of the people on a list provided. I was to cut out the articles, tape them to a sheet of paper, and assemble them in a binder, preferably before he came into the office, by noon at the latest.
I have been told by friends who still work Congressional offices that in today’s electronic world there is a hierarchy give to correspondence: formal written correspondence, then emails, then phone calls, then everything else - texts, tweets, etc. Basically, the more effort put into it, the higher it is prioritized.
Anyway, in answer to the general question - yes, it is worth writing your congressman.
Total waste of time to write your Congress critters. Once they are elected they could care less about what you the voters think. Your best bet is to vote the SOBs out of office. More than just vote, actively campaign to get these idiots voted out of office.
Include a check for 100k and they will listen.
Porn Stars, Strippers, Lawyers and Politicians only listen to one thing....