Robert Naiman <[email protected]> wrote: > "Inside game"? I just initiated a petition signed by 100,000 people. > When was the last time you did that? >
100,000 people, mostly members or friends of MoveOn, right? Remember that MoveOn is a DP satellite, since it can be trusted to vote for the DP no matter what. So why should Congresscritters care? what do they get for themselves by supporting the petition? That is, what kind of political capital does this kind of petition give to the congressional liberals? that is, were the political benefits that could be purchased with this petition significant? The easier it isto russle up signatures, the less leverage it gives the people pushing it. (Nowadays, whipping up petitions is an Internet industry, so that it's too easy to get signatures, undermining the respect for the petition by Congresscritters.) Similarly, of course, the greater the number of signatures, the more leverage. (100,000 doesn't sound like very many to me, but who knows?) From what I've heard, personal letters (with envelopes and stamps) get much more respect than petitions do. The "inside politics" refers to the horsetrading that occurs all the time inside the Capitol, with no change in the balance of power. In any event, what I "did" is irrelevant. I was not making any personal comments about _you_. Instead, we're talking about principles of political practice, not ego. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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