When asked why they don't ask their elected officials for what they want, most people will reply, "Because they won't listen." Of course, email and online petitions have made it easier to ask. So more and more people are. But most still suspect nobody is listening.
It is true that an online petition doesn't have the impact of an in-person appeal. For this reason, many online groups like MoveOn, True Majority, and Democracy for America are also organizing visits to representatives' offices. Groups are also asking constituents to make phone calls because they know something we should all be aware of--the more time you take in your communication, the more weight it carries with your representative. An email is like junk mail. A phone call is one step up. A hand-written letter adds one more notch.
But, if you really want to be heard, show up. Almost all representatives at all levels of government hold office hours where they will talk to constituents. You may need an appointment, and it never hurts to go with a group of like-minded citizens. I once did exactly that to ask my state Assemblyman to endorse a presidential candidate I was supporting. He said yes. My candidate didn't win, but he got an endorsement because I showed up and asked for it.
Yesterday I wrote that I'd asked congressman Sam Farr why Democrats weren't supporting impeachment for Dick Cheney. That was on Monday. Today, this appeared in a local paper:
Central Coast Rep. Sam Farr has joined a small group of House Democrats seeking the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney over the origins of the Iraq war.
Farr, D-Carmel, quietly this week joined 11 other co-sponsors of a resolution introduced in late April by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, that lays out two articles of impeachment against Cheney.
The measure, HR 433, accuses the vice president of manipulating intelligence and fabricating a threat of weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.
"Many residents in the Central Coast support the removal of Cheney from office, and I am proud to represent their values in Congress," Farr said in a brief statement released Wednesday by his office.
Did my request make a difference? I'll probably never know. But it certainly couldn't have hurt. And it might have helped tip the scales. It certainly helped that about 55 other women indicated their support for my position when I asked the question.
But there was one more thing I'm sure really helped--congressman Farr knows who I am. He knows who I am because he sees me at lots of political events he goes to. Because I'm one of the people who is always there working at events, raising money, making donations, supporting candidates, working for the Party. The other 55 women on that bus on Monday were in the same category. We were all going to a Party fundraiser in San Francisco honoring Nancy Pelosi. We'd paid for the luncheon and bus ride with Sam Farr. We've been around local politics doing the work for years and years. So, when I brought up impeachment, and the other women agreed with me, he listened.
Together, we're worth as much or more than a big corporate donor--because we do more than donate, we work. We need to know that, and to ask for what we want.
Wow Chris, it is so cool to hear when little people make a difference. You are almost better than a lobbiest.
Posted by: Laura | July 12, 2007 at 04:13 PM