Our Strongest Tool...

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bogie

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Jan 2, 2003
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St. Louis, in the Don't Show Me state
...is communication.

If you can't write a letter to the editor, or a press release, or any other communication piece, and have your message be readily apparent within the first two paragraphs, you shouldn't be doing it.

That means you have to be concise. You have to be blunt. You have to be focused. Because otherwise, what you're laboring so hard over is going to end up in the trash. Not because it isn't worth considering, but because it's too much TROUBLE to consider.
 
I've heard it said that, "if you can't present your message in a single well worded sentence, then you haven't put enough thought into what you are trying to say." Once you have that message, you expand the space to fit your need.
 
Get somebody to proofread for you because "those dumb liberial proffessors don't now what their talking about" makes the message you're trying to get across real difficult to take seriously.
 
If you're writing to your representative it will probably be read by an aide, and they are going to put a check-box on a list. So don't bore them, and don't make them hunt for whether it's a yes or not vote you're looking for. Start out with, "Please vote yes on HB1234". And then in a few sentences, say why. And then say it again: "And that's why I hope you will vote yes on HB1234."

I take the sample letters given to me by my civil rights orgs and pare them down, because they are too verbose. Seriously. The letter should make it obvious in 30 seconds--heck, in 10 seconds--what bill it is you want voted on, and whether it's a yay or a nay you're looking for. Don't make the aide work for it.

Include your contact information: Address and phone number. Why? To make it obvious that you're a real person with a stake in the process, and that you live in the the representative's district. If you're too paranoid to give your address and phone number to a representative, then don't bother writing them a letter. If you can't be bothered to put some skin in the game, why should your representative be bothered to listen to you?
 
This is most definitely NOT where you need to trot out everything you learned in English class.

1) That was a LONG time ago.

2) When you screw up, you look stupid.

3) You're not being graded by the pound anymore.
 
I wrote my letter to Governor Purdue today asking him to sign H.B. 89. It's the first time I have ever written a personal letter regarding my views. I have sent the mass emails, etc, but nothing personal. I am hoping it will carry more weight.
 
as the bard reminds us . . . . .

"...brevity is the soul of wit..."

Hamlet , by William shakespeare
 
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