It's go time folks, why don't we use a common puke tactic against them?

[converted_democrat]

I'm new at being a Dem, I've only been at it for about a year now, and I still have much to learn about the party.. But I want to let you in on a tactic that my old party uses that I think we would be wise to utilize.. Now what I'm going to suggest isn't immoral or wrong, or I wouldn't suggest we do it in the first place.. I am a moral person, hence my conversion to the Dem party in the first place..

When you call in to your Senate office what do they say after you finish your opinion? They ask for your zip code for tracking purposes.. 95% of the time they don't ask for anything else, just the zip code from which you're calling so they can "track" the call. If you notice, all of the local offices do it just as the DC offices do.

I have read on this board on more than one occasion... How does that 30% make themselves look to be a majority? How does that 30% override what the true majority wants? It's simple, they inflate their numbers, and they are louder than we are.. Every Sunday in churches all over the country thousands of people are told to call to their Senate offices, and told exactly what to say. Not only are they told who to call, and what to say, they are told to call every local office, as well as the DC offices. So, that "one" person that is calling in is calling every local office as well as the DC offices. So essentially, they make one person look to be 5 or 6 different people calling in as "concerned citizens." I've even heard of preachers suggesting that you call in a couple times a day using different accents- (The reasoning that "made it okay" was that if you weren't actually lying about your name, or where you're from, than it wasn't your "fault" if the staffer assumed that you were someone else.) By using this tactic they are making their numbers look much larger than they are in reality..

All I'm saying is this is the game that they're playing, and two can play the game. I would never advocate the "accent" part, but what is preventing us from calling into all of the local offices as well as the DC offices? Instead of just calling the DC office, and the office closest to you, why not call all of the local offices too? If they can make 1 person look to be 5-6 different people, why can't we?

I know many here don't believe that making the calls does any good, I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. Over the course of the last year, I've become very "friendly" with a staffer in Bill Nelson's DC office. He knows me by my voice because I call in so frequently about issues.. He has told me flat out on several occasions that I needed to find more like minded people to call in because we were getting trounced in numbers. The average citizen isn't calling in to express their thoughts, and the far right knows this and they are using it to their advantage. We have a majority, but we aren't as loud as they are, and we aren't as passionate as they are. In his own words "The God Warriors call in like clockwork on Monday morning, and we don't have enough people calling in from our team all week to make up the difference from the damage they do on Monday morning." The other way that we get beat is that we assume that calling a puke politician is just a waste of time, so why bother? They don't care, they don't listen so why should we call? We should call because what they are doing is wrong, and if we don't tell them, who will? If we don't call in and tell them how we feel, than they are even more emboldened to do what they want because they feel that no one even cares enough to even try and put a stop to it. If we don't let them know that we know what they are doing, and it's wrong, who will stand up to them?

These people honestly feel that they are on a mission from God, and they are very persistent because they feel that they have God on their side. They feel a passion for their mission, and we need to adopt that passion.. Not the passion of God, but the passion of our own mission.. The mission of saving our nation. If they can inflate their numbers so can we, if they can call in daily to get their point across so can we.. Next time you call in to your Senate offices, call all of the local offices too.. Then wait a day or two, and do it all over again. We're on a mission too, not for God, but for our country.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Here is the complete member list of the Senate. If you click on the individual names of your Senate members it will give you the numbers to their DC office as well as their local office numbers. I know today is a holiday, but we need to info out so we can get an early start tomorrow morning.. It's go time folks.

[annabanana]

1. I am not surprised

that they have used this tactic.... However it DOES piss me off. What?.. do they have a list of all the local offices, phones and zip codes in front of them?

[AbbyR]

7. Well, yeah, they do...

I have all of my reps' numbers - they are all on the business cards I get when I cover events. I'm guessing all numbers are also on the web sites. So give it a go and call.

[no_more_rhyming]

2. Dishonesty

breeds dishonesty. No matter what side you're on. Welcome.

[converted_democrat]

3. It isn't dishonesty.. I've not asked anyone to lie, all I'm asking is that

our side makes more phone calls, and exposing what the other side is doing. That's it. Nothing dishonest about it.

[no_more_rhyming]

4. Sorry, I misunderstood

By using this tactic they are making their numbers look much larger than they are in reality..

All I'm saying is this is the game that they're playing, and two can play the game.

[RagAss]

16. What are you so concerned about "honesty" for..?..these pukes

would burn us alive if they believed they could get away with it.....

[robbedvoter]

12. First you disrespect MLK, then you attack an activist

very "moral" and effective stay on DU I see.

[drm604]

5. Kick, kick, kick. K & R

This needs to be on the front page. Recommend this!
:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[senseandsensibility]

6. kick

Good idea. Welcome to the Democratic Party!:kick:

[orwell]

8. This brings up...

...a larger point. If a preacher from the pulpit encourages direct political action, he/she in effect should lose tax exempt status. The IRS has already started opening the door on this with recent actions against a so-called "liberal" church.

What's good for the goose...

[converted_democrat]

9. I personally don't think that churches should have tax-exempt status, but

that is another can of worms.. I know that there are good churches that do what they are supposed to, but there are too many abusing their status.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. Great information and you are right on the money.

In the early 90's I canvassed for progressive grass roots organizations in 7 states (mostly on the big push for health care reform, single payer.)I did this for three years 5 days a week, and knocked on around 40 doors a night, raising money and consciousnessabout the issues.

Often when we were canvassing in an area that had a representive who was on the fence about a bill we were for or against, we would ask people to write a short letter in their own words asking their representive to take an action (such as please support sb x because I can't afford to go to the doctor, for example.)

We would ask folks to please leave it on the porch and we would swing back through and pick them upat the end of our canvass evening. Then the office would mail them out over the next week or ten days (so they all didn't arrive enmasse on the samme day.)

I saw state Representives and state Senators come on board as a result of this direct pressure from their constiuents.

All elected representives offices keep numerical track of how many pro or con letters, calls, e-mail they recieve on an issue, or a bill, or an action.

Believe it!

[converted_democrat]

11. Thank you.. I appreciate that.....n/t

[Pool Hall Ace]

13. That's it.

I'm calling my Republican SenatWhores. So what if they are Bush tools? I expect them to at least listen.

[converted_democrat]

17. Thank you!! Call! Thank you!! n/t

[MagickMuffin]

14. Thanks for posting this important information

while I have been one to complain that it won't matter because of living in Texas and knowing that the Repubs are not going to take the time to listen to what I have to say.
It is important to express my opinion regardless of how they will vote, just calling to let them know is at least the one thing I should do and will do starting tomorrow morning.

Thx again for giving us the courage to do our civic duties and expressing them to our representatives...

[kevinbgoode]

15. They do the same thing with LTTE's. . .

often they have just copied and pasted from the RNC or another web site, and then sent it with a local name so it will be published. If you pay attention, they all always react with the same talking points almost on command. It was frightening at first to watch how they would use this method with very little regard for ethics. To them it is all about winning, and how they get there is irrelevant.

We need phone networks and to be vigilant EVERY time around.

[mattclearing]

18. This is exactly why Hill staffers follow polls over phone calls.

Scientific data is much more reliable than the activists and concerned parties that call in.

If you want them to take you seriously, hire a lobbyist.

[converted_democrat]

19. They do pay attention to who calls in.. My friend has no reason to lie to

me about the process they use, and I doubt he would urge me to find others to call in, if it was fruitless to do so. Besides, if they are going by polls, why aren't they voting accordingly? Almost every poll has been in our favor, so why aren't they voting that way? They do pay attention to who calls and writes in, and we are getting our asses kicked in that arena.

[mattclearing]

20. Then why did they ignore us on Iraq? n/t

[converted_democrat]

21. We seem to have a communication problem...

I can't speak for the other Dem offices, but we are getting our asses trounced 4-1 with people calling in and supporting r-wing issues. 4-1. We have a bunch of people that are complaining, but they are not taking any action. That is the problem. Their team is extremely organized and they call in every week several times a week, and we don't.. That's the problem.

[mattclearing]

22. The calls on Iraq were heavily against the invasion.

I know staffers who said that there were literally thousands of calls against the war, with very few in favor. Their team may be organized, but even when we beat them legitimately, they win...Senators look at the polls and pick the "silent majority."

[converted_democrat]

23. That isn't true...

Americans were largely in favor of the Iraq war when it happened..

[mattclearing]

24. If you look at the polls, yes.

If you were manning the phones, no. In the same way that there were no grassroots pro-war rallies on the Mall, there was no outcry of callers in support of invading Iraq.

You're simply wrong on this. And it's not that important, really...It makes perfect sense that our congresspeople and senators would opt to take the opinion polls over the people who cared enough to call...the opinion polls are a more accurate assessment of public opinion.

[converted_democrat]

25. I call bull....

"there was no outcry of callers in support of invading Iraq."

Yes, there were people calling in for the war on Iraq, they are the same people today that are begging to give our liberty away for safety.. It's the churches.. You don't seem to get it.. I used to play for the other team.. I know how they operate, I was one of them.. My family still is.. Don't tell me what you "know" because you clearly don't have a clue about what you're talking about. I know how my family was mobilized, I've sat in the churches that have made our nation into the monster it has become.. I know what I'm talking about.. I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but our team is losing right now.. Instead of thinking you have all the answers perhaps you should listen to someone who actually knows what the other team is about, and why they are kicking our ass right now. I'm trying to give our team a leg up, but by all means keep doing what you're doing and losing.. Who am I to stop you? The churches are a bigger problem than anyone here realizes.. The churches are pawns that are promised $$ if they get the people to call in and make a stink.. Every issue, every time.

[mattclearing]

26. You don't know what you are talking about.

I know people who were answering those phones. It was often four to one, five to one, and more against Iraq.

I appreciate what you are trying to do, but the lemmings in churches across America are not dominating policy debate in Washington, no matter what they or you think. Basing your activism on false premises is not going to win anybody anything.

If you said that they were donating money to campaign or hiring lobbyists, I might be inclined to agree that they have inordinate influence, but phone calls alone mean nothing to these people, and believing otherwise is seriously naive.

[converted_democrat]

27. Ya wanna bet?? Why don't you go take a look at the current stories in

LBN.. 2 major churches in Ohio just got busted for exactly what I'm talking about.. Have you forgotten Justice Sunday 1,2,3 already? There are 20 some million born-agains, and more than half of them are politically active.. They are dedicated to their cause, and they call like lemmings for anything they are told to.

[mattclearing]

30. Believe what you want.

If you want to waste your time on hold with Hill staffers while their bosses sip drinks with lobbyists, be my guest.

[converted_democrat]

32. I'm not saying that lobbyists don't have power over the votes...

I never said that.. What I'm saying is that our direct competition (the pukes) have millions if not close to 10 million people on phone trees to make calls, and write letters.. We don't.. They appear to be bigger than they are because they are so organized, and they call or write for anything their preacher tells them to. They are way more organized than we are, and they are kicking our asses right now because of it.

[mattclearing]

33. That is all true.

And they have been more organized for decades. I'm not denying that they call. I'm saying that even when we beat them on calling, as we did on Iraq, policymakers still check polls before making a decision, because the phones are biased, and easily manipulated by churches and interested organizations.

[converted_democrat]

35. Really? Than that must be why we are getting our way on all the issues..

Oh, wait.. We're not... The polls have been consistent 30/70- 40/60 splits in our favor..

[mattclearing]

37. You'll have to be a little more specific...you keep blindly citing polls.

You can't make assertions like that on DU without providing links. I don't even know what issues you are talking about anymore.

[converted_democrat]

38. Don't be purposely obtuse..

The war and the number of people who think we should get out, the Shiavo fiasco, the bankruptcy law, CAFTA..The number of people that think we were misled into war. I'm not blindly stating anything.. You've seen them and you know it.. You spend just as much time here as I do. You know exactly what I'm talking about, and you're being obtuse because it's easier to do than admit you're wrong..

[Kansas Wyatt]

28. I'd be willing to bet that Republicans actually set up...

Operations with computers or lists in front of the callers, with all the needed information, much like telemarketers, to target representatives in the government to vote the way they want.

It would not even surprise me if Republicans actually hired telemarketers to do it for them.

[converted_democrat]

29. I don't know about the computer angle, but where I come from they are

called phone trees. You make your calls, and then you call the three people beneath you on the phone tree to remind them to make their calls.. And then on it goes down the line..

[txindy]

31. Listen, I live in Texas. All of my so-called representatives are repubs

But I'll call, anyway. If they won't represent me, then they'll have to listen to me. Again and again and again.... I'm excruciatingly polite on the phone, but, dang, I ask sooooooo many questions and have even more opinions. :evilgrin:

:toast:

[dogday]

34. Me too

Cornyn's office always asked for my zip. Hutchinson's office has never asked for my zip...

[converted_democrat]

36. Call her office on it.. Tell them you know that they are not tracking

properly.. Martinez office used to pull the same thing on me.. I called them on it, and it never happened again..

[dogday]

39. I asked the aide, "don't you need my zip code"

and he told me no... that simple...