Increase the media coverage of your favorite moments about the convention by writing a letter to the editor on behalf of your favorite candidate for president! (As one follow-up to the blog post "Don't whine about the news/polls/attack ads... ORGANIZE!" http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/chicagoexpat/gG5FMS )
TOP TEN TIPS ON PUBLISHING LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
1) It is best to keep the letter short, to the point, and polite. Remember you are trying to persuade your undecided neighbors to vote for Barack Obama for President. a) Newspapers generally don't print anything over 200 words, or about 20 lines b) Stay on message, and stay with one message per letter 2) Write informally and conversationally in tone, you’re writing for your neighbors. Use your own language, don't try to sound like a reporter or an editorial essay writer. Be yourself. You can appeal to people’s emotions with your own style, imagery, phrasing, or varied sentence structure if you want. Passion is fine, but be polite. A letter from a young person, noting their age or grade, is also very effective.
Also, successful "letters to the editor" are often based on a strong news hook or a timely response to a current issue covered by your news outlet (like the political conventions, or when Obama comes to your state for an event, or an article about the campaign, or when the Presidential debates are held).
But if you want to write a letter, you don't have to wait for this to happen: JUST DO IT! 3) You can personalize it with something specific that happened to you or something in your community. Did you hear the Obama give a speech somewhere?
The important thing is to write about something that matters to you about supporting Barack Obama for President.
4) Send it on appropriate letterhead. That is, if you're speaking only for yourself, don't use your business or organization letterhead but only your personal letterhead (if you have any).
If you're announcing an endorsement or official position of your organization or business, then you can use organization letterhead (check with the boss though!).
5) Include your contact information to verify you wrote the letter; some outlets do not publish letters until they verify who wrote the letters sent to them. 6) In general, letters should be typed up (newspaper editors will not want to decipher anyone’s handwriting). Also proofread and spell check your letter before sending it.
7) Choose the newspaper to send it to. Check your local paper for the correct address and editor to send it to. Many papers now have on-line, internet access for sending letters-to-the editor.
Don't forget weekly community newspapers. The major daily newspapers in your area have the most readers, but the smaller, weekly community newspapers are also important. They are also usually more likely to print your letter than a major newspaper.
One site list newspapers across the nation, broken down by state and locality, at http://www.newslink.org/
You can find others by using any web search engine. For finding addresses for community weekly papers, e.g., you can go to a search engine like Google and type in your metro area and keyword, like "Pullman, Washington, news media" or "Vancouver, Washington, news media."
8) If you don't get your letter published, it may not have been published simply for space or deadline reasons. You can always send it again, or send it to a different daily, weekly, or community newspaper.
9) Please send a copy of your letter to your local party HQ or Obama campaign, it will lift their spirits.
10) Example of letters people have already written include:
"Another Pro-Obama Letter To the Editor" that was published as a blog post. (at http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/dobrocat/gGx42L )
Good grief, our candidate was a community organizer once!
Here are some general tips for writing "letters to the editor" on behalf of Barack Obama's candidacy (or any candidate or issue you're interested in). & how to use a search engine like Google to find lists of newspapers for your own state or metro area, with a list of web resources for newspapers in Washington state.
& an example & testimonal from someone who got their letter published in their Sunday newspaper.
-- Lou
++++++++++++++++++++QUICK TIPS ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Successful letters to the editor are often based on a strong news hook or a timely response to a current issue covered by the targeted news outlet (like, Senator Obama's trip overseas, or a release of an "attack ad" by a local partisan group).
The main daily or weekly newspapers in your area will have the most readers, but don't overlook the smaller community newspapers. They're important too, and are far more likely to print your letter. 1) It is best to keep the letter short, to the point, and polite. Remember you are trying to persuade voters. a.) Newspapers generally don't print anything over 200 words, or about 20 lines b.) Stay on message, and stay with one message per letter 2) Write informally and conversationally in tone, you’re writing for your neighbors. Use simple language. 3) You can appeal to the reader’s emotions with imagery, phrasing, and varied sentence structure. Passion is fine, but be polite. A letter from a young person, noting their age or grade, is also very effective. 4.) Like a letter to an official, you can personalize it with something specific that happened to you, or your program, that relates to the issue. The important thing is to write about something that matters to you about supporting Senator Obama. 5) Send it on letterhead appropriate to the author. That is, if you're speaking only for yourself, don't use your business or organization letterhead but only your personal letterhead (if you have any).
If you're announcing an endorsement or official position of your organization, then you can use organization letterhead (check w/ the boss though!).
6.) Include your contact information to verify your authorship; some outlets do not publish letters until they verify who wrote the letters sent to them. 7.) Type it up (newspaper editors will not want to decipher anyone’s handwriting), proofread, and spell check your letter before sending it. 8) Check your local paper for the correct address and editor to send it to. Many papers now have on-line, internet access for sending letters-to-the editor 9.) If you don't get your letter published, it may not have been published simply for space or deadline reasons. You can always send it again, or send it to a different daily, weekly, or community newspaper.
Most states have some organization that has collected and organized state newspapers into lists, as well as official lists usually compled by a state officer with some responsibility over newspapers (such as, the Secretary of State).
Some Washington state newspaper listings found off Google:
http://newslink.org/wanews.html
http://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/wa_newspapers.aspx
http://www.usnpl.com/wanews.php
http://www.dailyearth.com/USNews/washington.html 11.) An example of a successful effort is at "Another Pro-Obama Letter To the Editor" that was published as a blog post. (at http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/dobrocat/gGx42L )
Reich: “appalled” at “outright meanness and negativity.”http://robertreich.blogspot.com/
On his decision:http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/04/heilemann_robert_reich_to_endo.html
“I saw the ads and I was appalled, frankly. ” — the negative man-on-street commercials that the Clinton campaign put up in Pennsylvania in the wake of Obama’s bitter/cling comments a week ago —” I thought it represented the nadir of mean-spirited, negative politics. And also of the politics of distraction, of gotcha politics. It’s the worst of all worlds. We have three terrible traditions that we’ve developed in American campaigns. 1. One is outright meanness and negativity. 2. The second is taking out of context something your opponent said, maybe inartfully, and blowing it up into something your opponent doesn’t possibly believe and doesn’t possibly represent. 3. And third is a kind of tradition of distraction, of getting off the big subject with sideshows that have nothing to do with what matters. And these three aspects of the old politics I’ve seen growing in Hillary’s campaign. And I’ve come to the point, after seeing those ads, where I can’t in good conscience not say out loud what I believe about who should be president. Those ads are nothing but Republicanism. They’re lending legitimacy to a Republican message that’s wrong to begin with, and they harken back to the past 20 years of demagoguery on guns and religion. It’s old politics at its worst — and old Republican politics, not even old Democratic politics. It’s just so deeply cynical.”
“Based on my conversations with Senator Obama, reading his book and his speeches and seeing the kind of campaign he has run, I believe that he is our best choice to lead our nation. Senator Obama, as evidenced by his words and his deeds, recognizes that: — We have developed a habit of avoiding the tough decisions and seemingly lost our ability to build consensus to tackle head-on our biggest challenges. — Demonizing the opposition, oversimplifying the issues, and dumbing down the political debate prevent our country from coming together to make tough decisions and tackle our biggest challenges.”
“Our most urgent task is to end the divisions in our country, to stop the political bickering, and to unite our talents and efforts. Americans of all persuasions are pleading with our political leaders to bring us together. I believe Senator Obama is sincerely committed to that effort. He has made a non-partisan approach to all issues a top priority.”
Nunn and Boren are top Democratic security, foreign policy heavyweights. Their endorsements come after the earlier one by former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton (vice chairman of the Sept. 11 commission).
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1727145,00.html
Bruce Springsteen: “head and shoulders above the rest”http://brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
“LIke most of you, I’ve been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest. He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I’ve envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that’s interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where “…nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.”
At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man’s life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams From My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.”
If anyone's interested, there's an Earth day benefit for Seattle student environmental groups and Green Seattle Partnership.
More info is available at
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/30143
Green Seattle Partnership BenefitTuesday, April 22nd, 2008, 7:00 PMBenaroya Hall200 University StreetSeattle , WA 98101 Proceeds benefit the Green Seattle Partnership.Donated tickets will be given to Seattle Public Schools students.
TV host and renowned photographer, Art Wolfe, will give a multi-media presentation featuring the behind-the-scenes adventures of his television series, "Art Wolfe's Travels to the Edge."
Help us welcome the student riders back with an official end-of-ride escort to Benaroya Hall to kick off the celebration event! State Senator Joe McDermott will present proclamations from Governor Christine Gregoire and Mayor Greg Nickels. Master of Ceremonies is Enrique Cerna, TV host of KCTS Connects.
An Inconvenient Ride (www.inconvenientride.com) is a 5,400-mile cross country bicycle ride by students from Seattle's Chief Sealth High School and Gatewood Elementary. These Seattle public school students are riding across the country to raise awareness of environmental programs that are making a tangible difference. In a pioneering and collaborative effort, Sealth and Gatewood Elementary students have joined together to launch an innovative environmental program in their community that serves as a pilot project for the Green Seattle Partnership.
This blog http://www.washblog.com/story/2008/3/5/142439/9096 talks about affidavit voting challenges
Will Washington State's legislative Caucus in a post March 4th world produce harmony or strife?
With Texas and Ohio producing no clear nominee, the democratic party here in Washington is headed for a train wreck unless unified direction is given to counties and legislative caucus credentials committees across our state…. With the fight for every delegate now expected to continue through the time of our next level of caucuses the state party must remedy the situation or risk differing rulings and outcomes across our state and ultimately litigation and harm to the party itself. ...
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY it says the Clinton campaign is going to challenge to disenfranchise voters (as they tried to in Iowa, Nevada, and Texas, among other places):
...As a result of this chain of events a significant percentage of these affidavit votes are subject to credentials challenge by supporters of one candidate or another at the next caucus level. Some within the Clinton campaign have already indicated an intent to file credentials challenges to some of these affidavit votes. The party makes the names of caucus voters and their preference available to both of the candidates campaigns....
The questions to me are, what are the actual rules on credentials challenges, what is the Clinton campaign doing with them, and how should we use them to our advantage? I can't find the rules on credentials challenges on the web at any of the various Democratic web sites -- 34th district, King County, or Washington State.
In the doc: "WASHIINGTON STATE DELEGATE SELECTIION PLAN FOR THE 2008 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION" (60 pp.)
It appears to only refer to the credentials of the NATIONAL delegates going to Denver (that I can find).
This doc: http://www.34dems.org/Docs2008/LD-Caucus-2008-Official-Call.pdf, which is very helpful in other ways, only says this about credentials challenges (that I can find):
Presentation of challenged precinct documentation for decision by the caucus as a whole,starting with the lowest numbered precinct or at the beginning of the alphabet and proceeding in alphanumerical order until all challenges are resolved. If the challenged delegate is not sustained, they shall be removed immediately and replaced by a qualified alternate. A challenged delegate may not vote on the question of their own challenge.
but listed nothing about what or how to challenge a delegate.
The only rule on credentials challenges I can find in this doc on the King County convention: http://www.kcdems.net/documents/2008.officialcall.pdf
Is: "All challenges must be submitted to the KCDCC Chair a minimum of seven (7) days prior to the Convention."
But again, nothing about what rules deal with making challenges.
Again, we should have a plan AS OBAMA DELEGATES; we should share it; we should have met as a group to work on strategy, but that time is passed now. We've opened ourselves up to losing delegates for Obama either because of chaos or by the Clinton forces working together, as the washblog post indicates.
- Lou
While early news reports give Obama good results in the latest round of the Texas caucuses, it was after loooooooonnnnnggggg delays.
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/552303.html
"Some delegates, confused and frustrated by hours-long delays and disorganization, eventually gave up and left after eight or more hours, still not sure whether their vote had counted."
How will Washington fare? I know it seemed that my precinct caucus was pretty chaotic, even compared to the others going on around us at the high school gym. I assume we can only expect the LD caucus next weekend, if not the county, to be similar to what Texas experienced.
My LD, the 34th, did not attempt to contact any precinct delegates or alternates until yesterday on what to do at the caucuses, and then just provided links to the official materials. I went to a caucus meeting weeks ago for the 37th district, and they spoke about the process going to the national convention. And, the official party credentials and materials have not come in the mail yet, whether by bureacratic snafu or by design of the regulars who may or may not be happy to see a bunch of newcomers crash their party.
However, even the 37th meeting (while really well run) did not try to plan or discuss any strategy for what to do AS _OBAMA_ DELEGATES in the face of challenges to delegate credentials, or if we should challenge Clinton delegates, or whom the slate of activists might be who have worked longest & hardest for Obama in the state.
The Obama forces can't wait until the state convention to do this. Delegates to the state convention are going to be selected in the next 2 steps.
Are there any plans from the central office on how to proceed? And can those of us who are in touch get those plans before we just show up and have to wait for hours to get tot he meetings business? I know the Washington political culture seems to be just try and get along with everyone but do we really want to just lay down & let the other side, which may or may not be organized, take delegates away from Obama because we aren't organized?
I'd suggest we have plans to challenge as many Clinton delegates as possible if we want to maximize our potential. After all, it's Clinton herself has said that the credentials committee is for dealing with delegate disputes, and intends to use them to her advantage when she can.
Why should we fight with one hand tied behind us?
THAT IS WHY WE'RE HERE, TO HELP OBAMA GET THE NOMINATION. We should have a plan, and we should share it with our precinct delegates.
++++++
Just some quotes from what happened in Texas, and what to be prepared for in Washington state:
[Seventy complaints were filed by Wednesday in District 23, most by Clinton supporters. Earlier Wednesday, Clinton officials had said they wouldn't issue mass challenges to the process.
"Apparently the promise that the Clinton campaign made less than 24 hours ago ... was just another made-up story, because they now appear to be engaging in a calculated effort to block the counting of votes," said Obama spokesman Josh Earnest.]
above fromNEWS LINK HERE---->http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-conventions_28pol.ART.State.Edition2.463254e.html <
[at one convention in Houston, where mostly white Clinton supporters repeatedly challenged the credentials of black Obama backers in a heavily black district that had voted overwhelmingly for Obama. Democratic leaders, who had been thrilled by the massive turnout in early-voting states, now fear the consequences not only in the presidential race but also in state and local ones.]
above fromNEWS LINK HERE---->http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-dems30mar30,1,2252654.story <
Even if your state has already held the first round of caucus delegate selection, there are more steps for all of them to take to continue to get delegates for Obama.
BE PREPARED
From a Huffington post at ----> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12/its-back-to-iowa-for-ro_n_91226.html <---
It's Back to Iowa, for Round 2STEPHEN OHLEMACHER | March 12, 2008 05:51 PM EST | APWASHINGTON — Not so fast, Pennsylvania. The next stop in the Democratic presidential race is ... Iowa.Yes, Iowa.Weeks before Pennsylvania holds its primary on April 22, states such as Iowa, Texas and Nevada will conduct the next round of voting in the multistep process of choosing delegates to the national convention this summer. Iowa, which first voted on Jan. 3, holds county conventions this weekend in familiar locales the candidates remember well, like Des Moines.Welcome to the arcane world of the presidential caucus, where one day of voting is rarely enough to lock up national delegates and sometimes two rounds doesn't cut it, either. The party's system has both campaigns working to keep, and perhaps gain, delegates who have already been claimed in the early voting states.At stake: 248 delegates in 10 states, more than enough to shift the balance of the entire race. The Associated Press has awarded 138 of those delegates to Sen. Barack Obama, who has fared well in caucus states. Ninety-six went to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and 14 went to John Edwards, who has suspended his campaign.Most years, the complexities of party caucuses don't generate much interest after the campaigns have moved on."This year, they will be fighting over every delegate," said Norm Sterzenbach, political director of the Iowa Democratic Party.Obama leads Clinton in the race for national delegates, 1,602 to 1,497. But much of Obama's lead is built on delegates won in caucus states _ delegates who are not yet guaranteed to remain his. Here's why:Most primaries and some caucuses are binding, meaning that national delegates won by the candidates must pledge to support them at the national convention this summer. Some high-profile caucuses, however, are just the beginning of a multilayer process of selecting delegates to the national convention in Denver in August.In Iowa, precinct caucuses were held Jan. 3 to select delegates to county conventions this weekend. The county conventions will select delegates to congressional district conventions in April and the state convention in June.National delegates are elected at the congressional district and state conventions _ the third step of the process. If all the delegates for each candidate show up at every step, the national delegates awarded Jan. 3 will remain unchanged.But if one side is unable to rally its supporters at any step along the way, it risks losing national delegates.Obama won the Iowa caucuses in January, picking up 16 national delegates. Clinton came in third, winning 15. Under Iowa's quirky system, Clinton won one more delegate than Edwards, even though Edwards got the second most votes.Edwards' delegates _ and the chance to win them over _ will add intrigue to the Iowa conventions."Absolutely they're fair game," said Karen Hicks, a senior adviser to the Clinton campaign. "We are reaching out to a lot of them, trying to persuade them to join our team."Both campaigns have been working behind the scenes in Iowa for several weeks, rallying supporters to attend the conventions on Saturday."We are doing what we can to make sure we hold onto all the Obama folks," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.Iowa's caucus system is similar to those in other states, though there are critical differences.In some states, like Colorado and Nevada, no national delegate is officially pledged to a presidential candidate at the initial caucuses. In other states, like Hawaii and Washington, some delegates are pledged at the initial caucuses, while others are not pledged until the state convention.Other caucus states with delegates still in play are Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.Iowa Democrats are preparing for big crowds on Saturday, which is probably a good idea after what happened at a county convention in Nevada last month.The Clark County convention in Las Vegas devolved into chaos when a huge turnout overwhelmed party leaders and forced them to shut down the convention before completing the vote.An estimated 10,000 people showed up for the convention, about 2,000 more than organizers expected. Rowdy crowds filled the ballroom to capacity and forced casino staff to close the doors early, leaving hundreds of delegates outside.After conferring with the campaigns, party leaders rescheduled the convention for April 12, when they plan to extend voting over 11 hours to keep the crowds down."It's something that Nevada had never seen before," said Kirsten Searer, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Democrats. "In a lot of ways it's a good problem to have because, obviously, people are connected to these candidates. But it's hard to plan for something like this."
FYI, some general tips & sources of newspapers for writing "letters to the editor" on behalf of Senator Obama's candidacy in Washington state.
++++++++++++++++++++QUICK TIPS ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:Successful letters to the editor are often based on a strong news hook or a timely response to a current issue covered by the targeted outlet. The main daily or weekly newspapers in your area will have the most readers, but don't overlook the smaller community newspapers. They're important too, and are far more likely to print your letter. 1) It is best to keep the letter short and to the point. a.) Newspapers generally don't print anything over 200 words, or about 20 lines b.) Stay on message, and stay with one message per letter 2) Write informally and conversationally in tone, you’re writing for your neighbors. Use simple language. 3) You can appeal to the reader’s emotions with imagery, phrasing, and varied sentence structure. A letter from a young person, noting their age or grade, is also effective. 4.) Like a letter to an official, you can personalize it with something specific that happened to you, or your program, that relates to the issue. The most important thing is to write about something that matters to you about supporting Senator Obama. 5) Send it on letterhead appropriate to the author. That is, is you're speaking only for yourself, don't use your business or organization letterhead but only your personal letterhead, if you have any. If you're announcing the endorsement by your organization, then you can use organization letterhead (check w/ the boss though!).. 6.) Include your contact information to verify your authorship; some outlets do not publish letters until they verify who wrote the letters sent to them. 7.) Type it up (newspaper editors will not want to decipher anyone’s handwriting), proofread, and spell check your letter before sending it. 8) Check your local paper for the correct address and editor to send it to. Many papers now have on-line, internet access for sending letters-to-the editor Some Washington state newspaper listings:
http://newslink.org/wanews.htmlhttp://www.secstate.wa.gov/library/wa_newspapers.aspxhttp://www.usnpl.com/wanews.phphttp://www.dailyearth.com/USNews/washington.html For finding addresses for local papers, go to a search engine like Google and type in your metro area and keyword, like "Seattle newspapers" or "Seattle Community newspapers"
Any superdelegate is an official of the party and should expect to be contacted on issues of interest. You can share these tips on contacting officials w/ anyone wishing to let them know their feelings on whom they should commit to
Some other posts, & sample letters, for Washington state:
http://weneedobama.blogspot.com/2008/01/call-or-write-your-local-superdelegates.html
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/CarsonforObama/Cycr
++++++++++++++++ If you're interested, some generic tips on contacting official on issues: QUICK TIPS ON LETTERS TO OFFICIALS ON ANY ISSUE:1) It is best to keep the letter short, to the point, and always be polite. 2) Thank the official for any past efforts they have done on behalf of your issue (for example, if they appeared at an Obama rally or meeting). 3) Personalize the letter with specific references to your involvement in the issue or any personal reflections you have had with the official (for example, if you met them previously at some event or heard them speak somewhere, mention it).
Refer to the past victories of Obama and any national polls relevant to your point (check Google News or other search engines for latest info). You can also refer to this web site's talking points on Obama, especially referring to the better chance for Obama to beat the Republican inthe fall.
4) Give your address and phone number for follow-up contact and to show the official you are one of their constituents. Also, there's lots of good generic resources on advocacy available from other organizations on the web. While they are working on different issues, their resource guides are general enough to be used for any issue. Including letter writing tips like the above. You can find any you are interested in by going to a search engine like Google and typing in key words like "advocacy tips" or "how to advocate or lobby" or "lobbyists tips" or anything like that.
Hi, we need some attention in Washington state.
I can't figure out how to contact any of the Seattle or Washington State groups organized to support Obama. There don't seem to be any contact people who accept e-mails or phone messages. I'm not even sure where this blog post goes to, but it's the only way I know to contact them. The ones ID'd as group organizers for the groups on this list appear to have marked their ID's as "no mail allowed" to them.
For Washington state, I'm sure a lot of Obama precinct delegates are like me and have never gone thru the caucus system. If Nevada is any indicator, we need some discussion about what is going to happen at each level, what we need to do, and how we are going to do it, IMHO. Things can get screwed up just because we aren't organized and don't know what to do at each level – LD, county, state conventions.
Besides the delegates out of the precinct caucuses, & the Washington super delegates, there are apparently an additional 28 who get named at the state convention. I don't know what that process is. What do we do to make sure Obama gets his share of those? Will these just be handed out to patronage workers who may or may not vote for Obama?
Who are the contact people and how do we contact them? Who is in charge for Washington state?
What should we do at the upcoming caucus meetings?
Is anyone out there?
chicagoexpat@yahoo.com
Besides the delegates out of the precinct caucuses, & the Washington state super delegates, there are apparently an additional 28 who get named at the state convention. I don't know what that process is. What do we do to make sure Obama gets his share of those? Will these just be handed out to patronage workers who may or may not vote for Obama?
Hi, we need some attention in Washington State.
