We can keep the
Right on the run by making our drumbeat for consensus louder.
The President needs to hear our call for consensus in newspapers and on radio
shows from coast to coast. He needs to be told that the American people want him
to reject the attempts of right-wing extremist organizations to start a divisive
confirmation battle in an effort to seize control of the Supreme Court.
Here are two suggestions
of points to make in your letter
to the editor or when you call a radio show. Please only use them
for ideas--it's crucial that you restate them in your own words. If newspapers
and radio programs hear from lots of people using the same language to make
the same points, they may refuse letters and calls from anyone making these
points.
- Even before
Justice O'Connor resigned, right-wing organizations had spent hundreds of
thousands of dollars on ads saying that progressives would start a fight over
whomever Bush nominates. But now it's the right spoiling for a fight, trying
to turn "consensus" and "compromise" into dirty words.
- For years,
the Right has been accusing progressives of politicizing the courts. But now
their threatening political retaliation against President Bush unless he wages
partisan warfare over the Supreme Court vacancy.
Tips for Writing a Letter to the Editor:
· Keep your letter short (less than 200 words) and focused on
one main point.
· If an article has already run in your newspaper that you can write in
response to, your letter is more likely to be published.
· Make sure to check your newspaper's guidelines for submitting Letters
to the Editor. Most require a full address and phone number for confirmation,
and many have specific word limits.
· If your newspaper hasn't run your letter within one week, you have a
good chance of getting them to print it by calling the editor to follow up.
Tips
for Calling a Radio Show:
· Call as soon as phone lines open up or the show's hosts give you a
phone number so you can be sure your call gets through.
· Make one key point with your call, and make it succinctly. You won't
have time for multiple points.
· Use specific facts and examples to underscore your point.
· Don't be shrill or exaggerate. Try to sound reasonable so that listeners
don't dismiss what you have to say.
· Write notes on what you want to say before you call. Sometimes people
forget what they want to say when they go "on air."
Call
the Radical Right on Their Hypocrisy!