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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

LGBTQITSLFA / Olympia What One Slogger Learned When He Called Undecided State Senators About Gay Marriage

Posted by Eli Sanders on Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 10:04 AM

Now here's a good use of the snow / SOPA protest day:

Eli,

With Reddit and Wikipedia down and my classes at UW cancelled, I decided now would be a great time to call (having already emailed them over the weekend) the six state senators who are still undecided on gay marriage. (And while I was at it, also made the SOPA/PIPA calls to Murray and Cantwell.)

Some stuff I learned from my gay marriage calls:

- Senator Hatfield's office told me they need "more calls from their district."

- Senators Haugen and Shin are both keeping running tallies.

- The others didn't pick up, so I left a message.

Since I don't live in any of their districts, my tactic to get their attention is to mention I could potentially donate to their campaign.

Thanks so much for your coverage of this issue.

Cheers,
Brian

Let me know what you hear when you follow Brian's stellar example.

Comments (10) RSS

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Good info., Eli. Thanks!

Posted by Vince on January 18, 2012 at 10:32 AM

I emailed my state senator, Andy Hill, and I have not heard anything. I'm considering trying again, perhaps by phone.

Posted by MacCrocodile on January 18, 2012 at 10:34 AM

I know, I know, "participatory democracy," but somehow the idea of legislators passive-aggressively sitting on their hands and basing their decisions on the number of people who call them about an issue doesn't sit well with me. If it's effectively just going to be a public vote anyway, why do we even need the legislators?

Posted by balderdash

on January 18, 2012 at 11:13 AM

This Is Not How Democracy Works, Everett edition: Some hillbilly fuckstick recently wrote a letter to the Everett Herald editor complaining that his representative will vote 'yes' on the bill. He (the hillbilly) is against it, and believes his rep is going against the will of thethe people. He actually closed by writing "my representative has never called ME to ask for my opinion on ANYTHING!"

Posted by Dr_Awesome on January 18, 2012 at 11:16 AM

Great. So the civil rights of a minority should be decided by the number of phone calls or the tally for one side or the other. Nothing about what is just in a civil society. Nothing about how the government should protect the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority. None of that. Just what seems to be popular based on a half-baked tally of phone calls.

I weep.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on January 18, 2012 at 11:22 AM

Well, if the arguments for separation of church and state, civil rights for all citizens, privacy rights and basic human dignity don't sway them, then maybe THIS will:

Voting for gay marriage brings in a shit ton of money, even for Republicans.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/nyregi…

Posted by passionate_jus on January 18, 2012 at 11:44 AM

Great idea, Opie!

We called them all,
told them there was a $2 million donation in it for them
if they voted against AGAINST homosexual marriage.

They seemed very interested......

Posted by you are so full of shit on January 18, 2012 at 11:51 AM

@7:
>implying Alleged has $12M
>implying Alleged has $2M
>implying Alleged has tree fiddy
>implying Alleged called the senators
>implying Alleged called anyone
>implying Alleged has a phone
>implying implied implications

Posted by venomlash on January 18, 2012 at 12:54 PM

For Christ's sake, don't talk about campaign donations and legislation during the same conversation with a politician...

It's not ok to buy votes. Yes, talking about funding a politician in exchange for a vote on specific legislation is purchasing a vote, or at least attempting to...

Posted by scratchmaster joe on January 18, 2012 at 1:02 PM

We're almost there! You can easily help pass Marriage Equality in Washington:
http://www.facebook.com/events/292878324…

Posted by Benjamin Brockman on January 18, 2012 at 6:57 PM