Editor’s Take: Lobbying

You’ve heard it all ever since you took that poli-sci class in high school: Write your congressman if you want to see legislative change. Better yet, visit your rep in person. Are these approaches really effective? “Letter-writing works to a point,” says Stephanie Hendricks at the DMA’s Washington office, reflecting on her days as an intern on the Hill. But that “point” changed drastically five years ago, after Sept. 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks on the mail a month later. It can take more than a month for legislators even to receive letters, she points out, because all letters go to a big warehouse someplace in the middle of the country where they get X-rayed, irradiated and checked for anthrax. “So it’s not even timely to physically mail a letter to the Hill anymore,” she notes. What’s more, once letters reach the office of your official, they’re opened by unpaid interns sitting in a basement office, who generate automated thank-you notes.