|
The key to successful efforts to persuade a state
legislature to support a Citizens' Initiatives Amendment Referendum is
to find several legislators who will become committed advocates. Finding
these advocates is largely a process of luck and of trial and
error. The Citizen who decides to take on the job needs to find legislators who
are predisposed to listen and support the Plan.
The initial contact will usually be through the
legislator's staff, who will want to protect the legislator from cranks
and time-wasting meetings.
The best place to start is with persons in the state
legislature who you know or to whom someone can introduce you. Your
local district representative should be willing to give you a few
minutes at a minimum. If you do not have any leads, an inspection of
legislators' on-line biographies should provide a helpful starting
point. Potential advocates
may have one or several of the
following characteristics:
-
Wants to make a real contribution for change
-
Finds federal government's excesses to be unacceptable
-
Big money shuts out the legislator from running for Congress
-
Strong supporter of state’s rights
-
Is a scholar of constitutional issues
If the legislator or staff that you initially contact is unwilling to
promote the Plan actively, they may still be extremely helpful by giving introductions to people who
will be willing and able. Following a series of introductions and
referrals will eventually succeed if you keep trying and ignore the
rebuffs.
A presentation to a legislator's staff will usually be longer than to
the legislator. With a legislator, attention for a one-page overview
with a half-dozen key points is normally all you can expect. Their
staff, on the other hand, may be interested in a complete slideshow.
The following presentation materials are a starting point:
-
You will need the one-page
executive overview as a guide and handout when you make an initial
contact.
-
If you may have time, use the
Slideshow presentation. If you are familiar
with PowerPoint, you can modify it to fit your style.
-
You can print the four-page summary in color and on
good paper for an
effective handout.
-
Make a printout the detailed reasons why state legislators
have compelling reasons to support the Plan.
To make a
successful presentation, you should be thoroughly familiar with the Plan and
able to answer most questions without hesitation. You should run through your
presentation about a half-dozen times, recording your voice each time (dictation
digital recorders are cheap) and afterwards listening to yourself to learn from
your errors. Then, you should try two or three presentations to a live audience
of willing friends who will ask questions. With a small audience, you should
accept questions at any time to encourage a two-way dialogue, but return to your
presentation materials to keep your presentation to its agenda.
Try to get
someone to introduce you. This could be the legislator's staff person you
previously met or someone who accompanies you.
|
