Make Your Voice Heard - Communicating With Your Representative 101

Many political pundits and leaders encourage grassroots activism by sounding the alarm about a hot-button issue and adjuring interested parties to "Contact your reps!" and "Burn up those phone lines!" which is a great idea as far as it goes. The problem is that such short-term efforts to mobilize a response can fall short of the larger goal, which should be to have a well-informed populace building a strong relationship of accountability with their elected representatives.

I once worked as an intern at a State Capitol. I know from personal experience that legislators have interns manning the phones, especially when controversial issues come up, for the sole purpose of answering the phone, listening patiently to the constituent share his/her opinion, and putting checkmarks on a list. The running tally of "support/oppose" is reviewed each day in staff meetings and can ultimately influence policy decisions. 

But it's not enough to just swamp the phones with an avalanche of impassioned tirades; we have to clearly articulate our opinion, which takes time, but proves that we take our representatives' representation of us seriously. These people who represent us need to know that we're not just a mob army responding to some talking points from talk radio, whose interest in the matter will die down as soon as the news cycle moves on to another topic. They must comprehend that we are concerned and thoughtful constituents who deserve to be listened to, because we have done our homework and we are paying close attention.

My friends, this takes work. It takes effort. Getting truly involved requires more time and mental energy than merely clicking on an online poll, signing a pledge, forwarding an email, copying and pasting text, or leaving a message on an answering machine. There are no substitutes or shortcuts to seeking out the truth for oneself and formulating one's own independent opinion, but I hope to provide inspiration and encouragement for all good citizens willing to express their enthusiasm and beliefs in a practical and effective fashion.

To that end, I've compiled a short list of what I believe makes for an effective contact with an elected official, along with an example of a real letter I sent to my congressman.

* Make it personal. Start off by establishing your credibility with a personal reference (I voted for you, I was at this rally, I emailed you last year on this issue, etc.) Many legislative offices have caller ID now, and many online contact forms require you to enter your zip code to verify that you are from the right district. In this case, I referenced an email from a previous communication.

* Do your homework. Make sure they know that you are beyond talking points.

* Express support. If possible, show appreciation for their efforts. No one likes to be yelled at, even politicians.

* Explain your opinion. Don't be afraid to remind them that they are your representative and thus beholden to represent you.

* Request feedback. Expect an answer. Your representative works for you. Your tax dollars pay their salary.

* Follow up. Share your opinion with others. Explain your research and your reasoning, encourage friends to do their own research and come to their own conclusions, and suggest that they contact their representative also.

Debt ceiling negotiations, HR 421

Dear Representative Woodall,

Thank you for your letter today stating your position on the current debt crisis. I appreciate your response and I agree with the essence of what you say regarding our obligation to service our debt. I researched HR 421, which you reference, and I believe that that would have been an excellent plan to have in place in time for these ongoing debt talks. Unfortunately, I see that that bill got buried in committee, as no doubt the Democrats did not want to be having the discussion of which spending must be prioritized, thus allowing our president to make threats about withholding social security payments.

My frustration lies with the messaging of the Republican leadership. John Boehner is the Speaker of the House. Why is he not speaking out on this forcefully? He needs to highlight your bill again and again, and point out that Obama's threats would not carry weight if simple, common-sense bills such as HR 421 had been allowed to proceed. You need to articulate your message and get this out there on national TV. If Speaker Boehner does not champion these bills and use his bully pulpit to draw attention to your (meaning the Republicans' in general) attempted accomplishments, then writing these bills and resolutions is nothing more than an empty token.

Please understand that I sympathize greatly with your position, struggling to reconcile your obligations to listen to and honor the demands of your constituents with the reality that pragmatism will get the job done. I recognize the difference between pragmatism and compromise. While I believe that the CC&B was a worthy piece of legislation, the reality that we don't really have the time or the messaging right now to negotiate a balanced budget amendment leads me to fear that the House has been involved in grandstanding and empty gestures. John Boehner's comment on Rush Limbaugh's show today about pursuing a fallback plan confirms this notion.

Here's a good fallback plan that will satisfy most reasonable voters who hitherto would have insisted that raising the debt ceiling was unthinkable; call it the Cut & Breathe plan if you like. How much "unspent" money is left from TARP or the stimulus? I know some was being held back as a slush fund, presumably to be unleashed before next election. Call it out. Call out any remnants of Obama's pet programs in the discretionary budget that haven't already been spent. Write a simple bill, right now, cutting that, and raising the debt ceiling by that much. That will give you breathing room to negotiate further cuts, while demonstrating to the American people that you are being serious about making genuine, real-time budget cuts.

That's it. The general populace will understand and approve this, and the president will veto this at his peril.



Please read the letter I sent to Senator Saxby Chambliss this morning. I will be sharing this message with others to illustrate the importance of keeping thoroughly informed as well as to reassure our elected representatives that we are paying attention and that we will have your back as long as you do the right thing. Thank you again for your efforts on our behalf.

Sincerely,

Concerned Citizen

An Open Letter to Senator Saxby Chambliss on the "Gang of Six" Plan

Dear Senator Chambliss,

I am a dedicated supporter of yours, having voted for you and worked hard as a volunteer on your run-off campaign. I am also a thoughtful constituent who researches the issues and gives my honest opinion of how I expect my representatives to represent me. I say all that to give context to my remarks, which are not a result of any off-the-cuff response to media hysteria but are my studied opinion of how you should proceed. I’ve worked as a legislative aide in a State House, so I understand how the office can be swamped with calls when a controversial issue comes up, especially when it draws such a frenzy of media attention. Please listen carefully and respond to my opinion and don’t just put a checkmark on the “Hates the Gang of Six plan” box. 

Last week I sent you an email imploring you to hold firm on the debt ceiling and assuring you that your constituents support fiscal responsibility. I still believe that you have the overwhelming support of the American people, but I understand that political realities dictate certain concessions. 

While I do believe that the Republicans could potentially hold firm and not raise the debt ceiling and still maintain the support of the popular opinion (Obama does not have the favorability ratings to sustain a prolonged battle, the media are already experiencing fatigue over his childish tantrums, and alternative media have grown to be such a powerful force that there is no longer one dominating narrative framing the discussion as Evil Republicans vs. Reasonable Democrats), I also believe that most people (especially your Tea Party constituency, who are the strongest opponents of any compromise) will be willing to accept a certain level of pragmatism IF you can explain yourself clearly and succinctly.

I read through the transcripts of your interview with Martha Zoller yesterday, and I am impressed with and completely understand what you are trying to accomplish here. You strive to remain true to your values and your constituents while facing the reality that you have to work with the cards you’ve been dealt.

The bill that passed the House this week is a great example of an exercise in futility: I would have heralded it as a brilliant step, offering as it does modest concessions on raising the debt ceiling as a realistic acknowledgement of the political reality that Obama threatens default (which in itself ought to be called out as economic terrorism) and requiring actual real-time spending cuts instead of ten-year “smoke and mirrors” promises, if it hadn’t involved the constitutional amendment to balance the budget. A balanced budget amendment is imperative, but this is not the time to be negotiating that, with our president threatening to withhold Social Security checks as the first item to be cut as long as we do not give him what he wants.

It seems to me that the House has simply decided to make a rhetorical gesture of dying on their sword to appease their base. So I can understand that you’re trying to accomplish something that will actually succeed, and make it as palatable as possible to your constituency. I applaud you for your months of effort to craft a bipartisan approach. You are the voice of reason.

The problem is that it has become increasingly apparent that there is no compromise between what President Obama wants, and what the majority of the American people want. You must understand that, and clearly explain it to your colleagues and constituents in a way that everyone can understand and agree with. Get out your little Venn Diagrams and demonstrate that whatever Obama will accept is not acceptable to the American people.

The farthest limits of our patience have been tried with the realization that we will have to raise the debt ceiling yet again, but we want it tied down to real spending cuts, and kept to a modest level so that this issue is forced to the front again and again. That’s all.

That’s a reasonable compromise, and one that you can make a case for to your constituents. Give us six months of breathing room, and let the next election center around the issue of a true resolution to the budget crisis by making the most of the time you’ve bought with the debt ceiling increase. Without the immediate specter of default overshadowing the debate, let President Obama show us how to eat our peas by pressing him every day to showcase the spending cuts he’s actually willing to make.

Please respond quickly with your answer. I’m going to be making this point publicly, and I’d like to know that you’re listening to your constituents’ concerns just as surely as I want you to know that I am listening to you. Please keep us informed. We’ll keep you honest.

Sincerely, 

Concerned Citizen

An Open Letter to Michele Bachmann

Dear Representative Bachmann,

You first caught my attention and admiration as an outspoken critic of Obamacare. Of course, two years ago most Republicans and a few Democrats (as well as a majority of the American people) were opposed to Obamacare, so that in itself wasn’t so newsworthy. Specifically, I admired your poise and grace under the boorish attack of Arlen Specter, when you insisted that you were acting like a lady for making your point and not allowing him to interrupt you. You have been in the news many times since, and your stances seem sound. So I believed that you were a true Tea Party patriot.

However, I am dismayed at the recent turn of events, in which you hired GOP sell-out Ed Rollins to manage your campaign, refused to fire or even rebuke Mr. Rollins for his baseless and quite foolish attacks on your ally and benefactor Governor Sarah Palin, and announced your candidacy for the presidency by positioning yourself as “the” Tea Party candidate.

Because of your outspoken criticism of Obamacare and your conservative stance on social issues, you had been dismissed, criticized, derided, and attacked by both the media and by the GOP establishment as “The poor man’s Sarah Palin.”

Yet suddenly, within the space of a few short weeks, we are bombarded with article after article from mainstream journalists commenting on your seriousness, your potential electability, your rising stance in the polls. In short, the media appears to believe – or at least to want us to sincerely believe – that you are a force to be reckoned with. They want to make you a star. 

It should be obvious that we are witnessing a massive orchestration of subterfuge and misdirection intended to hand the nomination to Mitt Romney. We know the major media – 90% of whom voted for Obama last election – do not like true conservative/libertarian politicians. We know that these articles they are writing about you, pretending to take your candidacy seriously, do not demonstrate that they have suddenly decided to like you. (They pretended the same thing to Bob Dole and to John McCain, and as they did to those candidates, they will drop you once you have accomplished their ends.) These articles simply confirm that they have decided to use you.

Representative Bachmann, are you unaware that they – both the liberal media, who want the GOP nominee to fail, and the GOP establishment, who want the Tea Party to fail – are using you in this egregious fashion? Do you realize that they are deliberately stoking your ambitions, egging you on to grasp for something they have no intention of bestowing, propping you up as long as it suits their purpose and then intending to hang you out to dry?

Or have you actually cut a deal with the GOP establishment, and are you in on this one yourself? Have you been specifically recruited to whip up a bit of modest Tea Party huzzah, with an end game of handing the nomination to Romney either by diluting the Tea Party vote or by dropping out at a crucial moment, throwing your support, your momentum, and your money to Romney? Did he promise you the VP slot? Because you know he won’t give it to you. You can’t break into this GOP good ol’ boys club. You have to break it up.

I’d like to think that you are innocent of this great ploy, but that would paint you as incredibly naïve, gullible, and delusionally ambitious. You could be all that and still be a great Representative to the good people of the 6^th Congressional district of Minnesota, so I’ll leave that one up to them for the next election cycle. Perhaps you could ask your fellow public servant Governor Sarah Palin to come stump for you, help you raise money, and drag you across the finish line again as she did in 2010.

However, I do see one good way out of this for you. In fact, it’s the only way you can realistically come out of this with any kind of political future. This involves a bit of subterfuge, of slyness and cleverness on your part, and most of all, integrity and idealism. This solution proves that you can play politics and win, and gets you off the hook for being called a Judas for the rest of your life.

Suppose you know what you are doing. Suppose you know what they are doing. Suppose you know that they are trying to play you, trying to game the primaries, and play the honest Republican voters out there. Suppose you didn’t think you could call them on it, because no one would believe you when the media still painted you as a Tea Party darling (read: lunatic fringe), as recently as a few months ago. You had to gain access first. You had to pretend to be an insider so you could get inside to blow the whistle. You had to let them build up the momentum of portraying you as a serious candidate, so that when you speak out on the corruption and cronyism going on in the GOP ranks, you could be taken seriously. You’ve been carefully saving all the emails from Romney’s team, offering you the VP slot or some coveted Cabinet position; all the memos from JornoList (or is it CabaList, now?), documenting all the backroom deals being brokered; and you’re going to air it all when the time is right.

I really hope that’s your plan, Representative Bachmann. I’d like to go back to liking and mostly agreeing with you. For now, I’ll have to watch and wait.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen