"Call your senator" has always been the cringiest shit. Like unless its a fring topic where its something they probably don't know or care enough about, its literally never gonna change their mind.
I'm sure senators' inboxes are just full of boomers screaming about homeless people or gas prices or whatever is on their minds.
It's just occurred to me that it would be funny to call local offices and just berate them about dumb shit from history that doesn't matter anymore and they couldn't do anything about anyway. Call my governor just screaming about the Second Vatican Council.
Yep, let's be real, 99% of the messages politicians get are something like:
"Mr. Senator, Sir, I demand to know why there is still a Poovy Farms bumper sticker on the corner mailbox. As a taxpaying American Citizen, I demand that you take action on this. This is my 29th attempt to contact you about this, and as one of your constituents, I demand satisfaction. God bless you and your family. I look forward to voting for your 18th re-election regardless."
"Can you please let Senator Scott know that trans rights are human rights?"
"We will get right on it. Thank you for your concern." :hangs up: :capitalist-laugh: :capitalist-laugh:
IF YOU'RE STILL IN LINE, STAY IN LINE. JUST BECAUSE ITS PAST 8 PM DOESNT MEAN YOU CANT STILL VOTE
"We found a 90-year-old woman who stood in line for 14 hours to vote. Faith in Democracy Restored."
They do use it as a barometer for public mood - obviously it's some intern just taking a quick note but if they receive a shitload of calls about something it can shift their position, within reason. You won't get fascists to seize the means of production, obviously.
Yeah like that time everyone sent a billion letters about net neutrality and they just dumpstered them lol.
At best it just encourages them to ask for another corporate donation before signing it.
Yeah, phone zaps work to get them to acknowledge an issue and sometimes make a press release that can be used to galvanize protests. Sometimes you can actually convince a secretary and have them try to exert some pressure from inside.
It's not a solution, but it's a tactic that can occasionally produce useful outcomes.
As a french man, I have never understood this shit. This is the most american thing ever. "Call your senator". What about "Fix your democraty" it seems to be broken
Did this a couple times when I was a lib. It didn't make sense to me even then, but everyone kept presenting it as the only way to take action, so I just assumed they knew better than me...
Hey now there's a poorly paid intern that adds you to the email list for insert topic
At my peak level of :LIB: I would spend part of my lunch break calling my reps. Should've used it to steal more stuff instead.
I'm in a few state orgs and we do this for issues that aren't partisan, basically off radar shit. the process is chill. there's a call center at the statehouse which is staffed during sessions. somebody answers and you say, I'm in [X] zip code so my state senate and house districts are [Y] and [Z] (they will look them up for you if you don't know) and they're friendly people and then you say I am for/against HB/SB x/y.
the representatives get a summary digest each day. you can give them your info and request to be contacted back. obviously, they can ignore it all or not. one time I left my info and my reps both left me VM thanking me for taking the time, blah blah blah. it was weird, because I didn't expect anything and one sounded lonely lol. "call my office direct anytime here's my number"
federal stuff is totally different and a waste of time, in my opinion as someone who has also done that a few times. the responses from their offices are always insulting. a lot of state shit is too, unfortunately with all the ALEC boilerplate austerity and posturing, but sometimes there are functional processes to participate in a project unique to your local region which hasn't been sucked up into a national organization with partisan alignment.
obviously worker orgs, mass line and direction action is how to get major structural gains, but the diversity of tactics cuts both ways and it took me maybe 10 minutes of looking through all the other bills on the schedule besides my org's focus and 7 minutes of phone call with a friendly lady.
out simply, this didn't interfere with my union activity, theory reading or other agitation/organizing.
Maybe if you run an large organization and vote as a bloc a rep might actually listen to you.
But even then at the level of Senate you'd need to be pretty big and organized.
I could maybe see this having somewhat of an impact, if the Congressmember is somebody who is in a tight election and/or the topic is something where there is a possibility for change (be it at the institutional level or the Congressmember is willing to take on the effort).
Even then, if you wanted to have more of an impact, you would just confront them in public, whether if it is at a town hall, campaign event, public appearance or something else. Realistically, this would not bring forth any change, but maybe create a viral moment.
me, being tortured to death by the CIA for being a Communist
"Ugh! You monsters! Allow me to call my senator!"
My senator: LMFAO
