Before taking my walk, I am spending some time reading on line, and I just came on this op ed piece from the Washington Post about what it is like to be on the receiving end of the calls flooding in to Congressional offices. It seems clear that the groundswell of opposition to the Republican "health" bill, both at town halls and in phone calls, had a good deal to do with its failure.
As I read the column, what struck me was how much influence was exerted by a relatively small fraction of a Congressperson's constituent base. There are 700,000 people in a Congressional District, more or less, but calls from only several hundred people a day -- say 2,000 over a ten day period -- can overwhelm a Congressional Office and create the impression of a tsunami.
Having read with awe your accounts of your weekly activities, I am moved to pledge that every day I will call Senator Burr's office. urging him to pursue more vigorously his rather lackadaisical investigation of Russian interference in the American election. Who knows? It might make a difference.
I'd think the numbers must be compared to the baseline rate and must be compared to the population of discontent and the sample of supporters of the Republicans who did call, very little
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose the calling of congressmen and senators has more effectiveness than demonstrations?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. They are both important, and calling is very easy. We need to do both.
ReplyDelete