By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | With cynicism about government, voter discontent and the zeal for change seemingly at an all-time high, people are talking about how to get the government in gear and working.
What, we asked several people, are tactics that work and can help break the gridlock at the national and state levels?
“We are contemplating this exact question,” said Dana Beach, executive director of the S.C. Coastal Conservation League.
It’s a combination, he said, of tactics such as personal letters, emails, social media, phone calls and in-person meetings used appropriately and strategically. Not every tactic will work for every goal.
“The best lobbying programs involve a combination of quality and quantity contacts,” observed Chris Cooper, a South Carolina native who operates Convergence Targeted Communications in Washington, D.C.
“In-person meetings with elected officials provide the best opportunity for high-value lobbying,” he said. “This can be a small number of constituents meeting in an elected official’s office, or it can be a large number of constituents making their presence known at public hearings.
“As Woody Allen said, 80 percent of life is showing up. Same goes for lobbying.”
Beach added advocating for change is not the same as opposing bad ideas.
“I also think we need a common vision, with implementation steps, we can rally around,” he said. “We need to inspire our constituencies with positive outcomes that are realistic but uplifting.”
Make it personal at the Statehouse
If you’re really concerned about an issue at the Statehouse, perhaps the best thing you can do to be heard is get an in-person meeting with a state senator or representative and share your concerns. The meeting doesn’t have to be long — five or 10 minutes. Make sure you leave a written document behind that clearly states your position and asks for the official’s specific help or support.
Former state Sen. Phil Leventis of Sumter advised people to develop relationships with people in local and state offices to communicate their messages.
“Call them. Talk to them. Go to lunch. Find out who they are but more importantly, let them know who you are and where you are coming from,” he said. “Easy? No. Effective? Yes. Critical? Absolutely.”
But what should people do if they can’t take time out of their workday to get a meeting in Columbia or in a lawmaker’s district. The next best thing: A personal letter.
“We don’t get very many sincere, personal letters,” one senior state Senate staffer observed, adding that lawmakers get a lot of pre-printed postcards and form letters, which don’t have as much of an impact.
Also keep in mind that “not all legislators are made equal,” the staffer suggested.
Translated, that means anyone who wants to impact public policy at the state level also needs to contact the right person — the small group of legislators who are working on each specific issue to impact their thinking as bills move forward. It won’t hurt to communicate with all 170 state legislators, but personal, grassroots communications with the decision-makers on particular issues likely will have more impact.
Contact a congressman’s state office
Utah freelance writer and former congressional staffer Emily Ellsworth got a lot of attention on social media this week for offering ways that people could get their messages through to members of Congress.
Don’t, for example, just fire off an email or form letter or call a Washington office and go on a rant and think any of it make a big difference. It might make you feel better but more than likely, your message will get batched with similar opinions and you’ll get an impersonal, form response. Which may make you mad all over again.
A better strategy: A phone call to a congressman’s state office.
“Because emails and other written correspondence is so easily batched by computer programs, a hundred or a thousand emails on a subject both require the same amount of effort by staff,” Ellsworth wrote this week on Jezebel. “Phone calls are more effective because they require a staffer to be on the phone with someone and respond to questions immediately.”
Ellsworth, who worked for two Republican congressmen from 2009 to 2014, agreed that in-person meetings with a staffer — or, if possible, with the member of Congress — were also effective. But she cautioned advocates to be respectful to overworked staff.
“Make sure you ask your question in a way that is respectful and requires an answer. If they dodge the question, you can ask it again, voice your opinion, and then ask that it be recorded,” she wrote. “If the staffer doesn’t know enough about the issue (often an intern), you can ask to speak to a senior staffer or the legislative director who will know more about the policy and the representative’s position.”
Other advocacy ideas
Organize lots of communication to break through barriers. Flooding an office with phone calls — which take up staff time and require answers — will get a message through, but if used too often may get ignored. Using social media in a similar way likely will get noticed.
Case in point: The state Department of Health and Environmental Control, criticized in the media recently for proposing new abortion regulations that flew in the face of court decisions, got more than 460 personal responses through its comment process. Such an outpouring of critical comments led the agency to hold off moving forward for now, as highlighted in this statement: “Because of the volume and scope of the comments received during the public commenting period, the agency has decided to take additional time to work through the comments before proceeding further.”
Join advocacy organizations. The adage holds that there’s strength in numbers. If you seek change on an issue, find a group with which you agree and work with them to push the change you seek. Ellsworth suggested, “The most effective ones understand that a direct connection with the staff is just as important as meeting with the representative.”
Find someone who has a relationship with a key lawmaker and use it to your advantage. Organizations can’t just lean on ‘clutter,’ mass emails, digital ads and the like and expect to be heard and more importantly be successful,” said Upstate politico Chip Felkel, whose RAP Index helps organizations find the right people to move issues. “By using real people with real relationships who can be really effective messengers, groups have a much better chance of making their case to key policymakers.
“Those valuable relationships are there. We find them all the time.”
Be authentic. Wesley Donehue, a GOP consultant who operates Push Digital, was blunt in his advice: “Be authentic and transparent. People are sick of canned bullshit.”
- Have a comment? Send it to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!