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[Gordon Ray Kissinger]

Five tips for writing to your Congressmen or Senators


When you write Congress, whether you realize it or not, you are speaking for hundreds of other people as well.

In a recent interview with Congress.org, Grover Norquist, a longtime anti-tax advocate and founder of the group Americans for Tax Reform, said that businesses have a rule of thumb that each letter they receive represents approximately another 200 people who had a similar concern. "Two hundred people thought about it, were mad about it, went home mad and said I'm going to write a letter, but then forgot to write the letter because they got busy with other things," he said. Still, there's more to it than just sending a letter. Here are a few other tips from Norquist:

* Tell — don't show — your anger. Writing in all capital letters or using foul language just makes you sound un-hinged. "You can say how unhappy you are without swearing or calling anybody stupid," he said. "You can say, 'I'm very angry.' You don't have to sound angry. You can just say it. 'I'm very angry. This really irritates me. This is very bad.'"

* Don't be unreasonable. If the tone of your letter makes you sound as though you won't be happy no matter what politicians do, they'll just ignore you. "They think, 'How can we ever please this person? They're crazy," Norquist said. "I have a very nice crazy file in my office, but I tend not to write back to any of those people."

* Tell them if it's your first letter. Norquist said it's very effective to let Members know this is the first time you've written or that you haven't written in a long time. It helps them understand how strongly you feel about the subject of your letter, he said. He compared it to the joke about the boy who ends years of silence to complain about the broccoli at dinner. "Until now, everything's been fine," he said

* Narrow your focus. Norquist said too many advocacy groups focus on a whole laundry list of issues. It's more effective to focus your energy on just one single issue, he points out, pointing to advocates for home-schooling who have done well in fights against teacher's unions. "That's like marijuana growers who went up against (pharmaceutical companies) and beat them," he said. It works best to just focus on a single issue. You can always write more

* Act locally. If you want to meet your Member of Congress in person, track them down when they're in town — not when they're in Washington. It is ten times less likely you will ever see your representative in Washington because that is when they are often the most busy. Talk to person when they are home and more likely to have the time to see you."



Thanks to Preston Miller, for the above content.