this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024

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385

YSK: US Senate offices pay attention to how many constituents are calling them on a topic. Democracy doesn't end at the ballot box (www.senate.gov)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

70 comments fedilink hide all child comments

If you're concerned about Trump's nominations, the most impactful thing you can do is to reach out to your US Senators and voice your opposition. A large volume of brief phone calls do make a difference at strategic times. Immediately after a nomination announcement is one of those strategic times, because they are figuring out how/whether to respond publicly. Democracy must be fought for even after elections have ended.

Contacting Senators from both parties also matters right now. The prevailing message in the media is that Dems need to cater even more to Republicans to win the next election, they need to hear your voice if you disagree with that.

The most effective phone calls take less than a minute: say your name, your city or ZIP code, and what you support/oppose, maybe a sentence on why. You'll be marked down on a spread sheet that is discussed at the daily office strategy meeting.

Other actions like brief emails, meeting in-person at the district office, meeting in-person at the DC office, can also be effective, but take more time and energy. Emails aren't always read right away like a phone call must be answered for example. And you generally need to make an appointment for an in-person meeting.

Find your Senators' contact info

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 hour ago

Some inside perspective:

You are talking to staff or an intern. You might be the hundredth call for the day. They’ve heard all kinds of shit, from long-winded conspiracy crazies to the most courteous and intelligent calls ever. Yelling at them or being a jerk will get you nowhere. Be prepared to state your case clearly and concisely. Your concern will indeed be noted and logged.

Do not call a congressperson that isn’t your own. They are not required to listen to you, you are not their constituent. Do not write a congressperson that is not your own. The letter is almost guaranteed to go straight into the trash.

The best letters go on the intern break room fridge to be enjoyed by all.

Even so, unfortunately the congressperson may not act in a way consistent with the majority of people’s calls and letters. Thank money and power plays in politics for that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 55 minutes ago

Call them about the 14th amendment section 3!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Democracy doesn't end at the ballot box

This time, it did

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

YSK call your house rep. They're more likely to answer. Also call your state reps first. Most issues are handled on a state level, not federal, and state house reps tend to be the most accessible.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Totally agree it's important to engage all levels of government. But only the US Senate has the authority over nominations

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 hour ago

Gotta love that this needs to be explained to American adults.

I tell you, they really love the uneducated here, folks.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 1 hour ago

Anti-genocide protesters did more than just pick up a phone and call. We all saw the result.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

I love threads like this. I find so many interesting people to block

[–] [email protected] 23 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

"We should call our representatives"

"na na why should I bother? This requires effort and I have to figure out what to say. And anyway my cynicism dictates that it doesn't matter. na na blah blah"

"How do you know, you've never tried"

"I just know blah blah they don't care blah blah"

"Well, you've definitely proved that not calling produces no results"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 15 hours ago

They don't have to take away your power if you stop yourself from using it first. Don't willingly give up your voice.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Unless you're wealthy enough to own two or three senators they don't give a flying fuck what any of us have to say.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (2 children)

God, the doomerism in the comments here fucking sucks. If you won’t even pick up a phone why am I expected to believe you’ll be the hardest antifa soldier there ever was when the revolution comes (which, conveniently, is never)?

This is more embarrassing than those people who spend real life money prepping for a zombie apocalypse. At least those people have things that might actually be useful in a real disaster.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 hour ago

Are you implying that this doomerism is of no use to anyone?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 hour ago

why am I expected to believe you’ll be the hardest antifa soldier there ever was when the revolution comes (which, conveniently, is never)?

Are people here claiming to be that? Don't conscript me to your make believe army.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Just called mine! I probably sounded like an ignoramus, but hopefully I said enough intelligible buzz words.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 16 hours ago

Awesome!

[–] [email protected] 45 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

How many calls cancel out each dollar from corporate lobbying

[–] [email protected] 19 points 22 hours ago

Less than you would think, but it also depends on how you contact them. A physical call is way more powerful than an email. 10 people passionate enough to call can easily translate to 1k people passionate enough to vote about it.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 22 hours ago

It's highly variable, and yes I absolutely agree money in politics is a big problem. I do have a direct experience where reaching out to my Senators led to them aggressively and successfully opposing a provision in a law that would have had a big impact on me. Don't want to dox myself, but this real change to a bill made a huge difference to me and many others. So it is possible to make an impact.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Thought I'd add that mass phone calls are a tactic used by the NRA and other powerful lobby groups. Getting a lot of their group's members to voice their opinion is the key to their success...perhaps to the point of making an office fearful of the backlash via phone calls for going against them.

Relevant John Oliver segment

[–] [email protected] 15 points 22 hours ago

The real power of the NRA is their membership is mostly reliable voters.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago

It also helps if you have a very specific and narrow cause .. muh guns rights .. and anti or pro specific legislation. This creates broad consensus.. that follows the NRA draft talking points they usually bring out.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 day ago (4 children)

My state's senator-elect is a republican, pretty sure he doesnt care.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

This is exactly why the OP exists! My state has been solid blue for a decade now. I trust my senators not to vote to confirm AG Gaetz, but they NEED a few Republicans to join them. It looks like Collins and Murkowski have come out against him. We need a few more, and OP is saying that calling is one of the few things that may influence them. Certainly more likely than bitching on Lemmy.

The one tradeoff to having Democrats representing me in Congress (both house district and Senate) is that I don't have anyone to call over stuff like this because they're already on my side... Although for some reason my governor (who has been awesome otherwise) has been praising RFK for HHS, so maybe I'll need to call his office and my senators about that one. Anyway, PLEASE don't fall into the opposite trap and give his office a call!

[–] [email protected] 28 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

They actually do care believe it or not. When our city council was voting on municipal fiber we showed up to petition our conservative city council representative to vote in favor. Guess who also attended, a representative from our federal senator’s office. Oh man the look on his face when only 3 members of the public showed up, two of them major supporters of municipal broadband, and the third spoke up to agree with us. Mmmm priceless. The city council man and conservative rep were so damn flustered. The senator’s rep took notes the whole time and we got to talk to him one on one. These outreach events do way more than you would think, this is how they gauge what they can get away with. Don’t let them discourage you, show up and bitch!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

If anyone doubts it, just look what lunatic conservative Karens have done at school board meetings across the country.

It's gross when it's about banning books, but when it's something positive, it's actually pretty amazing to see. Like the handful of students that you'd see show up between Karens to give impassioned pleas to, you know, please don't do that.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 day ago

A self-fulfilling prophecy if his constituents don't try to make him care

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

If anything that makes it more important. We already know how essentially all the Democrats are going to vote. A couple of Republican defections is all it takes to hold the Senate.

The key here is they don’t have to defect on everything. Turning every Republican senator into a never Trumper isn’t happening. But making some of them defect some of the time is a lot more feasible, and requires constant pressure.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Being aware of local and state government is always a good thing to do and so much stuff is streamed since Covid. It makes you an informed voter and it's where most of the stuff that impacts you will take place. Marijuana is one example of the impact of state law winning out despite federal law.

Reach out in any form you choose. Get to know them and what they stand for through their actions. Explain how things will effect you and people you know. Like anywhere else being an asshole is not the way to go. You might not change their mind but reminding them that everyday voters are paying attention has an effect even if you respectfully disagree.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I’ve been calling my representatives nonstop for a year to end their support for the genocide in Palestine. When is this supposed to start working?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 23 hours ago (9 children)

These tactics are not always a guarantee to have things go your way, but they increase the chances. For phone calling, numbers of people calling in matter the most, particularly at strategic times, including: right after big announcements, right before a committee vote, right before a floor vote. It's also more effective before dominant narratives have arisen around a topic and there is uncertainty on how things could shake out.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 21 hours ago

These tactics are not always a guarantee to have things go your way

See also: Atlanta city council voting for Cop City despite over two hundred people showing up at the meeting, in person, to speak against it. (Not to mention a petition for a referendum that got hundreds of thousands of signatures but was illegally withheld from the ballot anyway.)

You're right that actually talking to your representatives works surprisingly often, but sometimes it really blatantly doesn't.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

That makes it sound like a secular version of thoughts and prayers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Eh... For one, we know that our representatives exist in objective reality. So there's that.

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