The new one minute letter

[colycat]

The following was taken from another forum,  but has very good advice on contacting your representatives.  Thanks to Miller for finding it

Advice for those of you writing your Congressional delegation...
I spent six years working on Capitol Hill. One as a staff aide for a particular Senate committee, two as a legislative correspondent for a Senator, and three as a legislative aide for the same Senator.

For those of you who don't know, a legislative corespondent (LC) is basically a fancy title for a young twenty-something just out of college who receives the letters and emails that you write, and is usually the person who writes you back. Generally, Congressmen have one or two LC's who do all of their letters for every issue, while Senators have a whole team of LC's that handle letters for certain issues that they're assigned (IE: a military LC, a healthcare LC, an education LC, etc.). Here's a few things that I picked up as an LC that might help you should you choose to write your Congressional delegation:

* The "boss" will almost never read your letter directly unless they know you personally. But he/she will likely ask their LC's if they've been getting any mail on certain issues. My boss used to ask if we did almost daily whenever there was a hot issue being discussed on the Hill, and would want to know what percentage of it was for or against the issue. Believe me, if a majority of the letters they are receiving are against gun control legislation, they will hear about it.

* Don't send form letters. Form letters are letters that special interest groups will send in on your behalf. You'll usually get them in an email and all you have to do is type in your name and hit 'send.' They all look identical, and the staff knows that you put absolutely zero thought into the issue, and therefore will assume that you probably don't give that big of a Sh*t. When the boss asks if he's getting any mail on a certain issue, he often asks how much of it is form letters, and how much of it is real letters. Real letters (while rarely read by the member of Congress) are still a lot more powerful in the grand scheme of things.

* Don't use snail mail. Everything that gets sent into Capitol Hill has to go through the Capitol Police and is scanned for bombs and anthrax. It usually takes weeks for it to get to its destination, and more often than not, the issue is long over by the time it gets there.

* Don't be a dick. The kid who reads your letter makes about $25K a year and lives in one of the most expensive cities in the country. He spends all day getting yelled out by A******s, and he's just as likely to toss your letter to the side and forget about it for a few weeks as he is to respond to it. Be professional, but make your concerns heard.

* Keep it short and sweet. Remember, the Senator/Congressman will most likely never see your letter, and the guy who will see it spends all day reading long, drawn out sob stories that basically all say the same thing. He doesn't need your life story. A few sentences will do just fine. Let him know you care enough to write your own letter, but keep it short enough to not bore him to death.

Keep in mind, this is what MY old office did. Other offices do things differently, and some offices couldn't care less about mail one way or the other (Boxer and Feinstein were notorious for not giving two Sh*ts about their mail or phone calls). If you do have a few mintues to spare, however, take the time to write in (especially if your member is a Democrat). It can, and often does make a difference.

Anyways, I hope this helps.
Last edited by F-Trooper05; 12-21-2012 at 05:28 AM.[/i]

[TaosGlock]

 There are some good points however...many things are unclear.
The article implies lots of "letters" being read by the aides. So what do we use to send letters if not USPS "Snail mail? Any letter package from a common carrier will also get scanned and held up.
The article does not prioritize or list the best/most efficient methods for actually getting your message thru.
Do e-mails trump sent letters? Does a phone call trump everything. See below.

Your rep needs to hear from you on a constant basis so you need to be "eternally vigilant". At any "whispering" of a threat to liberty he needs contacted-even letter sent snail mail eventually gets there as the article implies. So be vigilant and send snail mail letters early.

After meeting with my aides for years they say a phone call is best.
I can't remember the exact words from my rep but it was something like 1 call = a hundred letters....even more.  Hand written letters next, and form letters distant third.
To hear a voice from a real citizen is a powerful tool and a personal message, next best thing to a FTF meeting.
He confirmed the OP's article, keep it short and sweet, polite and professional.

If you can't personally talk to your rep, them the aides will put your name, and get the message thru. They will relay the message "it was a call."
Again a power tool.

Sometimes they might even call back if you request they do. Best guaranteed time to talk to your rep personally is at a 'town hall' type meeting or call them on "break" when they come back to your home state.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling. The current situation demands we ramp up our coms with our reps.

[colycat]

I titled this thread "the new one minute letter", because things have changed a lot after 911.  I really think most "real" letters never get there.  In the past decade I don't think I have received a reply to a letter, but always get a reply to emails and phone calls.

The most effective for me is to e-mail and follow it up with a phone call to the most local office.  Our Fed reps have an in state office, often staffed by residents from the state.

Lastly,  make sure you let your reps know that you approve of a vote or bill, when they do something right.

[TaosGlock]

I titled this thread "the new one minute letter", because things have changed a lot after 911.  I really think most "real" letters never get there.  In the past decade I don't think I have received a reply to a letter, but always get a reply to emails and phone calls.

The most effective for me is to e-mail and follow it up with a phone call to the most local office.  Our Fed reps have an in state office, often staffed by residents from the state.

Lastly,  make sure you let your reps know that you approve of a vote or bill, when they do something right.

Exactly!
My letter/e-mail replies back to me from my reps/aides have been minimal and take on the form of "canned responses" to what they think I want to hear.
Even if they are 'F rated' they pretend to support the 2A.  Annoys me, but plod on I do.

[Johnnyappleseed]

Good information
I was wondering if postcards can be a valuable tool ?
Seems lots of folks may handle it and possibly scan the topic sentence.

Any thoughts ?

[Transform]

I clearly remember posting a detailed reply to TaosGlock on the 24th, now I don't see it?

Good information
I was wondering if postcards can be a valuable tool ?
Seems lots of folks may handle it and possibly scan the topic sentence.

Any thoughts ?

In general, letters are better than postcards, but handwritten postcards are almost as good as handwritten letters, in terms of getting politicians to pay attention. (In the computer age, the extra effort of handwriting instead of using a printer can serve to demonstrate one's commitment to an issue.)

As you say, postcards have the side benefit of potentially influencing postal carriers, mail sorters, etc. but since the target audience is really the legislative aide who reads and answers the letters, I see this as pretty minor. Also, since much of the routing and scanning processes is automated now, there is less benefit to this approach than there might have once been in the past. So I'd suggest focusing on the target audience, since the legislative aide is usually the only one who will read your postcard or letter.

If you still prefer the postcard approach, my suggestion would be to print the mailing side (either by laser printer or using mailing labels) to save time and for efficient delivery, but to handwrite the message side.