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I think the top comment on Reddit deserves a re-post here: "As a former Senate staffer and redditor, I will tell you that the most effective course of action i
by ImprovedSilence 15y ago
I think the top comment on Reddit deserves a re-post here:
"As a former Senate staffer and redditor, I will tell you that the most effective course of action in this situation is to call the DC offices of only your own Senators directly. Speak to the staff assistant, who will take down your comments and log them into a tracking system. Make it clear to the staffer that you are calling in opposition to SOPA. In the briefing prior to the vote, the staffer assigned to SOPA will inform the Senator of the aggregate constituent sentiment as reflected by phone calls and letters. Their vote recommendation will be, in part, based on constituent sentiment. Most senators will make up their minds based on the information provided to them by their briefing staff.
The more phone calls this issue receives, the clearer constituent sentiment will be to these Senators. Take the time to call a few times a day if possible. This is by far the best way to make an impact. In person meetings will have the same result"
Take action people.
- Vivtek 15y agoActually, PIPA is the Senate bill. It should probably be mentioned explicitly.
- ncavig 15y agoI think this pertinent and will make it even easier to make the call http://engineadvocacy.com/voice/ http://engineadvocacy.com/voice/
- drewem 15y agoAs a Democratic political consultant who lived and worked in DC for years and has many friends who work on the Hill, I will tell you that this is exactly right. Lobbyists do the same thing (target the staff), they just do it over coffee, lunch, drinks and/or briefing materials on a desk. 20- & 30-somethings run most of DC.
- electromagnetic 15y agoIt's also worth noting that paper and phone calls are a lot more hassle than email. All those 'email your councillor/senator/mayor/whatever' campaigns are ineffective because the people who take the time to call or mail in a letter are likely to be 10 times more pissed off (and express it) than those that simply email. Also, remember. Paper builds up. If you've got friends who oppose the bill then get them to write at the same time. Get a stack of letters and mail them together. Emails can be deleted, and phone calls can be ignored. 100 letters being dropped off by the mail man, that's gonna be a problem.
- 2arrs2ells 15y agoThanks to the anthrax scare a while back, mail takes forever to get to senators/reps these days. I think a phone call is more effective at this point.
- 97s 15y agoThanks for this clear information. I plan on calling the senator representing my state tomorrow.
- michaelcampbell 15y ago> Their vote recommendation will be, in part, based on constituent sentiment. Most senators will make up their minds based on the information provided to them by their briefing staff. I'm probably just being overly cynical, but I'm truly dubious of this claim. Sure, I suspect it's a data point, but I wonder how much influence this has over corporate and industry lobbying and money.