[MAPC-policy] letter-writing, 11/6-7

[MAPC-policy] letter-writing, 11/6-7

born-digital

email

yes

no

2001-11-02

Hi,
   I'd like to help arrange letter-writing on the 11/6-7, if you think
that's a good idea.
   I'm on the MAPC Policy Committee, and I wonder if it would be appropriate
to have letter-writing to Congress people as a companion activity at any of
the Student/Youth Caucus campus events on these days?
   Mailing letters per se might not be feasible.  Today I called Feingold's
and Kohl's offices, and that's what they said.  Fax, phone messages, and
e-mail are acceptable though.  I thought we could take resulting letters and
hand-carry them to the local Congressional Rep. offices.  Or we could fax
all the letters.
   We would keep count of the letters and post that number on the MAPC web
site, to help us feel the strength of our movement.
   The reason I like letters is because people can put their feelings into
their own words, and that sends a powerful message to Congressional reps
about how their Constituents want them to vote.
   If we ask people to go home and e-mail their Reps, they might forget.
   If practical, I'd also like to have a cell phone on hand, or a pay phone
with phone card available for people to phone Reps on the spot.  We would
keep count of these calls too.
   I can assist in the following ways:  preparing sample letters, preparing
posters and labels, labeled boxes for each Rep, bringing envelopes, paper,
and arranging to get the letters to the Reps afterward.  Since there's no
"Stop the War" bill that I know of yet (I'll check), we'll be asking people
to write that general message in their own words.  We'll supply several
sample phrasings of course.
   Unfortunately, I work during the day and probably will be tied up on the
evening of 11/6.  So we'd need to designate other individuals to announce
the letter-writing at each event, be there to keep track of everything, and
round up the letters as people leave.
   The way I imagine this is that even short letters that people dash off
right before the lecture begins, or just as they leave can get their point
across.
   The people who attend these events are already pretty motivated.  We're
just helping to turn this into political impact.
   Let me know what you think of this idea.
   If so, please provide feedback on the number of people expected at each
event, proximity of pay phones, etc.  Also, do you know anyone who has a
cell phone, from whom we could economically buy local minutes?  Similarly,
fax (perhaps UW Greens has one?).
   I'll talk with the Policy committee Sunday night to see if we can't come
up with some sample letters.

Regards,
X
XXX-XXXX
X

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Friday, November 02, 2001 4:56 PM

[MAPC-policy] letter-writing, 11/6-7