Hints for Communicating with your Elected Officials

[Government Affairs]

Communicating by Telephone
Calling is a great option when immediately trying to convey your opinion. Call your elected representative's office prior to an important vote to remind him or her how you would like them to vote. Representative's offices almost always count the number of calls received for and against certain pieces of legislation, and consider these calls an informal gauge of their constituents' opinions.

Communicating by Letter
Letters are one of the time-tested ways to communicate with legislators. Keep the following guidelines in mind when drafting letters:

•Computer-generated or typewritten letters are easier to read.
•Use your own words and refer to your personal expertise and experience when appropriate. A study conducted by the Congressional Management Foundation, which interviewed congressional staffers, concluded that thoughtful, personalized constituent messages have more influence than a large number of identical form messages.
•Target a specific piece of legislation whenever possible, and reference the bill number and title in your correspondence. To maximize effectiveness, write to your legislators in the chamber (e.g. House of Representatives or Senate) in which the legislation is being introduced.
•Be clear and concise. Address and discuss only one issue in each letter. Elected officials' staffers review hundreds of letters each week; covering an issue in short, concise paragraphs will help your effectiveness.
•Know your facts. Providing inaccurate or biased data will damage your credibility, as well as that of EMPact America's, and it can diminish your ability to influence future issues.
•Explain how the bill or issue affects you and your family. If possible, provide anecdotal examples. An issue's effect on local constituents and businesses will make your letter stand out.
•Be courteous and respectful. If your legislators' positions contradict your own, acknowledge their views and state why you disagree.
•Be constructive. If a bill or proposed solution is off the mark, offer alternatives or suggestions, in addition to your opinion.

Communicating by Fax and Email
When a bill is coming up for a vote, and there is not enough time for a letter or personal meeting, email and fax are the fastest ways to voice your opinion. The guidelines listed above for writing letters apply to these forms of communication as well. While personalized constituent correspondence is ideal, EMPact America also utilizes Voter Voice software to distribute Action Alerts, making it easy to e-mail your legislators. A message is pre-written according to the legislation, and with only a few clicks a message is sent.

Arrange a Meeting
Setting up a meeting at your legislator's office is a great way to build your relationship. Here are some tips for making your first meeting a success:

•Be considerate of your legislator's schedule and time constraints. If you are meeting in your legislator's office, he or she may only have 15 to 20 minutes to speak with you. You must be able to state your views succinctly in order to leave time for discussion.
•Be prepared (i.e., well-informed and well-organized). Understanding political issues is important, but your personal experience is a rich and persuasive asset.
•Be attentive to your legislator's views. Each encounter should be an exchange of ideas, rather than a lecture.
•Understand the basis of your legislator's views. They provide valuable insight into how you might support or change those views.
•Leave a one-page summary of your key points when the meeting is over.
•Follow up the meeting with a written thank-you note re-emphasizing your key points.
•Write a separate thank-you note to the staff members who helped arrange the meeting.
•Always send any information or materials you promise to provide.
For many reasons, you may end up meeting with a member of the office staff who handles the issue at hand. While you may be disappointed, don't be discouraged. Treat the meeting the same as planned; ask that your information be provided to the legislator and for him or her to follow up with you about the meeting.

Staying informed
Staying informed of your legislators' activities and positions is vitally important. Having EMPact on your side makes it easy and convenient to stay up to date. You can do this in a variety of ways:

•Regularly (every month) visit your legislators' websites, as well as the EMPact website (www.empactamerica.org).
•Ensure that your name is on your legislators' mailing lists to receive newsletters and position papers.
•Read and take action when you receive Action Alerts --an indication that immediate action is required on an important issue.
•Obtain issue papers and updates on EMPact America's legislative agenda by visiting the Government Activites section of the EMPact's website.
•Always say thank you! Remember that your legislator's time is very important; a simple expression of gratitude is always appreciated, no matter how you do it!

[EMP_Activist]

I've been talking to candidates for the US House and Senate about EMP. I've talked directly to five out of the six congressional candidates in my district and I've also talked to the national security advisor for the senate candidate leading in the polls. Here I'm going to give you some real-life hints on talking to candidates about EMP.

First, directly talking to a congressman or senator about any issue is hard once they have become elected! I know this from experience—their time is very limited and their staff protects them from direct interactions with the public. But the campaign trail is different; they have reserved time to talk to voters and they are very willing to do so.

The best venue to talk to candidates is the so-called campaign event. This can be an event dedicated to the candidate, such as a house party or fundraiser, an event hosted by an advocacy group, a meeting of the local democratic or republican committee, or a debate between the candidates. Candidates also make visits to well-trafficked areas such as county fairs, malls, or large office buildings. You need to find out in advance where these events will be held and the best way to do this is to go on the candidates web site—nearly all candidates have a schedule of events posted. Check this every couple days as it will change frequently. In many cases, you will need to RSVP for an event, especially if it is held in a private location.

Organized campaign events follow a predictable format. First, the candidate will give a stump speech where they hit on the themes for their campaign. Then, in many but not all cases, the candidate will take questions from the audience. This is your chance to make a mini-speech about EMP and then ask a question.

You will have about three sentences state your position and to ask your question. That's really no more than 15-30 seconds. (If you go on longer, it's likely that you will be cut off.) EMP is a complicated subject, so you'll need to carefully plan out your question. Here's a sample question: "The leaders of Iran have publicly threatened the United States with attack. One way they might do this is with a nuclear device aimed to destroy our electrical grid. What is your position on protecting our power grid from foreign attack and where would you prioritize this in relation to other issues such as jobs, healthcare, and the environment?"

I think's its best to avoid the terms "electromagnetic pulse" and "EMP" in your question. Most members of the audience and some candidates will be unfamiliar with the concept. It's better to use phrases that are familiar such as "attack by Iran," "nuclear bomb," and "electric grid." The term electromagnetic pulse, while scientifically correct, opens us up to ridicule and jokes about "tinfoil hats." Even the mainstream media resorts to this, so don't give them the opening.

Likewise, I think the concept of a solar EMP is difficult to explain in 30 seconds. That doesn't make it less of a threat to our society, but we need to pick catchphrases that correspond to current events. Candidates are going to be hearing a lot more in the news about "Iran's nuclear program" over the next two months than "solar flares."

It's easier to ask a question than you might think. For smaller events, the candidate will directly call on members of the audience as they sit or stand by their seats. In this format, the first question is the best opportunity, because there often will be a 3-4 second pause of "dead time" when nobody has raised their hand. Get your hand up right away and you'll have the first question.

For larger events, questioners stand in line behind a microphone. The line can be quite long, so if you're at the end, you may never get to ask your question. Be strategic—before the stump speech, scout out where the microphone will be. Make sure to sit in a seat near the microphone and when it's time for questions, be among the first in line.

Candidates often individually talk to people before and after their stump speech. Most of the time it's before, especially if it's a single candidate event. Don't be shy about walking up to a candidate. Sometimes they will be standing alone, looking around the room. This is a moment of extreme discomfort for a politician—no one is talking to them! Help them out by asking them about EMP.

However, in most cases a group of people will be standing around the candidate. Approach the group, and then wait for a pause in the conversation. Then stick out your hand and say something like, "I'm Joe Smith and I have a question about Iran. I've heard the Iranian government might have a plan to attack our electric grid with a nuclear bomb. Have you heard about this and what would you do to protect our power grid if elected?"

In general, you might get a minute of one-on-one time with a candidate during an event. Remember, candidates don't want to get in an involved discussion, they want to meet as many people as possible. So don't be disappointed when they break away from you after a few seconds. For those of us that are not candidates, it can seem rude, but for a politician, it's standard operating procedure.

Sometimes the candidate will have an aide or driver standing next to them. If you have any background material about EMP, you might hand it to the aide. Never hand the material directly to the candidate, except when the event is very small or nearly over—the candidate needs their hands free to meet the next person. If the candidate finds your question interesting, he or she might ask for your business card or email address. Have it ready! Don't waste time by fumbling for your card or a pen and scrap of paper.

In general, it's better to ask a question about EMP than to make a statement. Why? Because candidates need to talk about themselves and why they should be elected. They do listen on the campaign trail, but it's a secondary activity. So give the candidate a chance to do both by asking an intelligent, well-planned question and listening to their response.

After meeting with the candidate, follow up with a letter or email. There's a good chance that the candidate will never see your letter/email, but you can increase the chance if you reference the conversation you had or the question you asked.

If you like a candidate and appreciate their position on EMP, you can offer to help their campaign. This need not be a big expenditure of time or money—it can be a simple as putting a sign in your front yard. Or you can help by working on the campaign, arranging a campaign event (a big time expenditure!), or even contributing money. Getting involved in politics can be a lot of fun and it's a great way to meet people.

As you go to campaign events and talk about EMP, you're going to be surprised at the number of people who are aware of this issue. I recently went to a multi-candidate campaign event and had a ten-minute talk about EMP with a candidate's husband. Afterwards, the campaign manager for another candidate came up to me and said he had overheard the conversation. He knew all the details about EMP and was thinking about personal preparations for his family, like storing food and water. He came right out and said that there's only about 72 hours of food stored in most cities.

I pointed out that the best way to protect your family against EMP is to become politically involved. No amount of personal preparation is going to replace all the benefits of our American society. We need to keep the good things we have by making EMP a campaign and constituent issue. We have two months until the November elections, now's the time to do it.

[EMP_Activist]

This factoid should send shudders down the spine of any politician who thinks they can safely ignore the EMP threat that would be caused by a nuclear-armed Iran. It's just the beginning of an issue that could reach the tipping point any day.

The Fox News Poll involved telephone interviews with 900 randomly chosen registered voters and was conducted by Opinion Dynamics Corp. from Sept. 1 - Sept. 2. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for the total sample.

...19 percent of voters are extremely concerned about losing their job, 32 percent about paying their bills and 38 percent about Iran getting a nuclear bomb, and 40 percent are extremely concerned about health care.

Read the entire article at this link.