Wait a minute…Why am I calling?
“Our senators are Democrats. Why do we need to call? Why do we need to call every day?”
Answer: People who agree with your viewpoint are NOT the only ones calling. People who disagree with you will be calling every day too. Multiple times. Our senators keep tallies of the calls. What we want is for them to tell their colleagues that they have a HUGE number of calls against this bill. THAT is our super power.
“Why do I need to call? Why not emails, those nifty new fax services or those bot thingies?”
Answer: Calls are answered by live people and their tally is immediate. Other methods require someone to read through your message and tally it. Later. Maybe. After face-to-face meetings and town halls, phone calls are our most powerful option. If calling makes you nervous, check out our discussion on it below.
“Why just my own senators? Why can’t I call all the GOP senators who are voting for this horrible thing?”
Answer: There are two forms of power for politicians. Money and votes. Unless you can offer a substantial donation to their re-election campaigns, the only thing you’ve got is your vote. And if it’s not your own senator, you don’t even have that. Their interns on the phone will be very nice, but they will not tally your calls or email.
“But our people aren’t on the committee that’s working on this bill. Logically, don’t those legislators who are on the committee have to represent us too?”
Answer: No. No, they don’t. (Unless you are giving them a huge campaign donation. See above.) Try this thought experiment… Do you see Mitch McConnell really trying to fairly represent the wishes of progressive Californians while he sits in committees? No, neither do I. While the bill is being kicked around in the committee, start calling your own legislators to tell them what you’d like them to do if or when it hits the floor for a full vote. Or do what is suggested below.
“So how do we reach those GOP senators?”
Answer: Through your family and friends who live in their states. These ten states are particularly important as their Senators will be key to the success of failure or the GOP’s proposal: Alaska, West Virginia, Maine, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas. See the state-specific stats here: https://www.trumpcareten.org
Here are all the phone #’s they’ll need: tinyurl.com/make-your-family-call-too
OK, so what do I do? What do I say?
We provide sample scripts with every call action. You only have to tell the intern answering the phone what position you want the legislator to take. You don’t have to lecture or argue with them. They are just taking a tally.
10 easy steps to become a warrior in the fight against Trump’s Agenda
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 