A local politician is coming to town for a meet & greet Saturday night. He’s already got my vote, FWIW, mostly because his opponent uses the words “Make America Great Again” in the first sentence of her website.
However, if he’s going to represent me in Jefferson City, I’d like him to be aware of some things I’d like to see brought up in the state legislature. There’s nothing that most Democrats (he’s a Democrat) would consider particularly off-the-wall or unreasonable, but no one else in Jeff City seems interested in talking about them.
So how should I bring this up to him? Corner him and talk his ear off about my own legislative agenda? Print it out and give him a list? Ask for his email address?
Now seriously, begbert2 has the best idea; I’m sure he has a campaign website with points of contact, e-mail or write him (address is “Mr. whats-their-name” unless they have some professional title (i.e., Dr.) or better, whoever is the “liaison” or other point of contact with people.
Cornering him at a public meeting to express yourself strikes me as a bad idea, he’s there to meet and impress as many folks as possible, not just get monopolized by one, so something in writing would work better.
Please note, there is no guarantee he’ll ever read it and you could end up with a “Bedbug Letter” because, frankly, the man is going to be real busy trying to win an election. Keep your thoughts short, concise, well-written and only about a page long.
Give him a quick three-line synopsis and ask his preference for a follow-up communication. Basically post #2 with a Readers Digest version thrown in. I know and talk often with assorted politicians from all across the spectrum. If they have the time they may want to talk to you right there and then. But often at that kind of gathering they just don’t have the time so put the ball in their court. Most I know like e-mails these days - one likes you to call his office and arrange to talk to him over the phone or at that location. Almost everyone is a little different and you never know and guessing could be frustrating for you - so don’t do it. Ask.
Note that if he knows that he has your vote, your likes and dislikes won’t matter that much to him. It may be more effective in a written communication to suggest that you have not fully decided.
That depends. He/she could be looking for active volunteers, poll workers and places to place yard signs and other advertising. So even if you are already counting yourself as a vote for him there are other levels that make you possibly useful.
Can you tell I’ve been involved in too many campaigns?
I think I have some experience in this, I talk to politicians frequently.
Surprisingly, they are human. Just saying hello and introducing yourself is a good start.
Say hello, thank him for attending, ask how you can contact him/her. It will be his/her campaign office. A good way to give short opinions on topics or seek help if that is needed. Just remember, politicians are not counselors nor dictators. They are part of an organization that only exists as a group. Individual members don’t have any power. They have influence but no power. Even the leaders. They might have lots of influence, but not power.
Main points:
Without being critical of anyone, feel free to tell him/her your position on the two most important topics you are interested in. The goal here is to be the respondent in an opinion poll. Every politician is interested in what their constituents are interested in. Giving him that info is what he/she needs and is the only thing they will really take away from most meet and greet.
If there is a subject you are expert in, or at least very knowledgeable about, briefly explain a few details and show how you reach a conclusion. The information won’t stick, most likely, but he/she might remember you as a thoughtful/knowledgable person to consult in the future.
Don’t make them take a position on a current topic-if the politician wants to remain so, he/she will reply with weasel words. You don’t want to hear it.
If you want to be popular with any politician the best way is to demonstrate the ability to get a group of people to support that politician. Someone who can bring a dozen votes to the table is immediately in the top 5% of people to know.
Now that the serious answers are in, I thought US politicians only communicated via suitcases full of cash and legislation.
As in, you insert the right suitcase of cash and the desired legislation pops out, sort of like an infinitely more expensive and less ethical vending machine.
I mean, sure they produce lots of noises from their mouths, but those noises have only a random correlation with any actual actions or events driven by the politician - the noises are purely to the greater end of facilitating the real communication that only happens between a politician and that special corporation with the twinkle in their lobbyist’s eye.
Perhaps you mean that the voter supports the politician but would like a few tweaks. Then a written communication with details that can be incorporated into the issue at hand without changing the goal is useful. Hard to do if you are not experienced in writing legislation, but useful.
In general though, it is better to make it clear you are on his/her side, assuming you are. Every politician wants and needs a strong base of people that agree with him. Those are his/her most important people
On the contrary, if you hold completely opposite opinions from the politician then you aren’t going to be considered important. If getting your vote would require a major effort or change in position, then for 1 vote it isn’t worth it. He/she will move on to more productive groups.
Met the guy last night. Swell guy. He is every bit the politician, tough. Talked in circles, made sure to bring every question back around to his main talking points, and so on. His own legislative agenda seems to be one-dimensional; his main talking point had to do with mineral rights and payments from BLM and so on. Somehow he managed to answer my question about legalizing medical marijuana by bringing up the mining industry and the Forest Service.
A good politician will not make a snap judgment on his position on an issue. There’s always at least two sides to an issue, and often more ( a polycentric issue). And one of the worst things a politician can do is take a position on the spur of the moment in response to a persuasive constituent at a town hall, then get back to the office and discover there’s a lot more to the issue and have to issue a retraction or clarification. It’s bad to get a reputation as a flip-flopper.
So at a public event, the politician will keep to the items that he/she has already decided his/her position. That doesn’t mean that feedback from constituents on other issues will be disregarded, just that the pol won’t make a snap policy position that might come back to bite him later.
