Though almost 15 years of experience working in voluntary "legislative advocacy," I learned a lot of things about how to influence politicians. It takes time, a lot of effort, willingness to be frustrated and disappointed, and not being surprised when things take unpredictable twists. But it can be done. There are some ways legislators are influenced that are effective, from the state level all the way up to the Congress.
The group I worked with did not have any connections to potential big donors, which is a quick route into the door. But we did represent a constituency that was large enough to affect the outcome of congressional and state-level elections in about 75% of the legislative districts in the state where most legislators were elected by margins under 3% of the vote either way. And that's the other route into the door. If they think your position will gain votes, they're all in.
We found that most politicians, whether in a state legislature or in Congress, work by the numbers. Potential increase in the donor base is a big motivator. So is a constant barrage of emails, phone calls, letters and personal contacts from constituents directed at a single issue. During a session with a legislative aid to my congressman, with whom I was meeting one morning, he flat out told me that if they get a dozen emails or phone calls on an issue, it gets their attention. People really don't call their senator or congressman to give their opinion that often. So when it happens, it gets their attention.
And, according to the aide, the means of delivery doesn't really matter, either. Some groups use an automatic, electronic email set which constituents can access on line and send a pre-written message to whatever legislators or executives they choose, right up to POTUS. Even though they all say the same thing, it clues the legislator in that a lot more people than usual must be thinking about an issue.
Organize a "Break the Filibuster" Movement
I specifically checked the websites of state democratic parties in West Virginia and Arizona, just to see what's up. Voter registration buttons, find out the issues, here's how you can donate, but nothing there, nothing, about the key bills in Congress now that will need every Democratic senator to vote on. Nothing about voter suppression, virtually nothing about January 6th, I think that might be a clue as to why there doesn't seem to be much traction on the filibuster, or much action. There's no pressure. Somewhere, on both of those websites, should be an encouragement to voters to pick up the phone or send an email to their senators.
It will take getting the Democratic party leadership in both of those states behind a movement to bombard their senators with enough support to convince them they need to move on this specific issue. It doesn't take much. If aides are spending the majority of their day responding to messages, calls and emails about the same thing, it won't take long to get the attention of either senator. And in both cases, that has to come from the "grass roots."
This doesn't have to be in the form of an attack. Just thousands of constituents expressing their concerns about the possibility that we could lose our right to vote and our Republic with the restrictive laws states are passing, and pointing out that breaking the filibuster is the only way to get this done. It takes organization and communication at the state level to inform voters and get them involved. If you can get a couple of their major donors on board, that's icing on the cake.
Think about it. It would be virtually impossible for a senator's staff to respond to more than a couple hundred emails or phone calls a day. There aren't enough working hours in the day to field that kind of communication. Multiply that by an office in Washington, DC and a couple of offices in their state, and it is not hard to imagine that some kind of response would be forthcoming from the member. I've seen this approach work with a congressional caucus. Representatives join caucuses based on their political interests, or to please a donor, and when the caucus gets bombarded with constituent contacts, it pushes them to meet and act. The senate sometimes seems a bit more distant, but in this case, we're talking about bombarding a couple of reluctant Democrats, one in a purple state, one in a red state, neither up for immediate re-election, to change their current perception.
If you're reading this and you're from Arizona or West Virginia, call your senator now. It won't hurt anything and they need to hear from you. Make the call exclusively about breaking the filibuster and tie it to the voting rights issue. Sometimes a grass roots movement like this doesn't get state party leader attention because it doesn't fit with their corporately organized "strategy" which is exactly why it has to be grass roots. And if you are a contributor with a record of financial support, let that be known.
I'm not a resident of either state, but I have called both Senator's offices. I tried to set up meetings last month when I was in DC, but of course, there are plenty of reasons for them to say "no" to someone who isn't from their state. So the noise has to come from within. Both of these senators are of the opinion that their continuation in the senate is in the hands of conservative voters. In West Virginia, that may well be the case and Manchin's declining vote totals over the years from his gubernatorial races and then the Senate may well be an indication of that. If that's the case, he's not going to get re-elected anyway, so he might as well do the right thing for the people who did put him there. Sinema may be misreading the direction of the Arizona electorate, which has increasingly gone toward Democrats. I see the possibility of a strong Democratic challenger, someone like Rueben Gallego or Ann Kirkpatrick, beating her in a primary, then going on to win a general election.
It's Worth A Try and It Has To Happen Now
A sudden, abrupt change in the attitude and posture of these two senators when it comes to taking these final steps to defeat the GOP and put some permanent changes in place to prevent the Republicans from setting up a fascist oligarchy that would destroy the Republic is necessary now. Otherwise, the time is coming soon when it won't matter how you vote. These are Democratic senators elected by a Democratic constituency and the expectation is that they will behave like Democrats 100% of the time. Their political future depends on it and our Republic depends on it.
Like many others, I'm no longer patient with sitting around, seeing what the party leadership decides it will do. I'm in. Opportunity is being wasted. We can no longer play the old games, hope things will work out and depend on some kind of mutual respect for the other side to behave the same way. That's not going to work. This is where the wedge must be driven.
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