(John Ordover) wrote

So if you want to make an impact on a politician or influence any kind
of person in power who responds to the public, send a physical letter.
One physical letter equals thousands of emails, no matter what the
topic.

This is the conventional wisdom, and I suspect it's true. One reason
that I believe it is that my congressbeings don't accept e-mail.

Note that, if you have a printer and a rudimentary word processor and
a 37-cent stamp, sending a letter isn't a lot more difficult than
sending e-mail.

Do, though, check out the various sites that tell how to compose a
congressional letter, how to engage the interest of the junior
staffer who will first read it and, hopefully and subsequently,
the interest of the congresscritter.

Engage, explain why you're writing, amplify, say what you want
the congressbeing to do. Use reasonably grammatical English and
limit it to one page, maybe two. If you have someone around with
good editorial skills, engage his/her services. Editors are very
important, if sometimes a pain.

(Rather to my own surprise, I sent a letter to my Representative last
week. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes back.)