On occasion I’ve been moved to write my elected officials. They may think I’m something of a crank, but that’s to be expected when my politics don’t match theirs. 😉
I may not care for Senator Richard Burr, but at least he writes back. I cannot say the same for Senator Liddy Dole, who has never written back. (And Representative Brad Miller–he sends me e-mails.)
So, is Senator Dole reading my letters and paying attention to her constituents? I’m not the only person to wonder–expense reports filed by Dole show that she visited North Carolina once during a recent six-month period. This article in the Winston-Salem Journal reads:
According to the Report to the Secretary of the Senate, an expense report issued twice a year that details expenses by Senate offices, Dole made one trip to North Carolina during a six-month period, and Burr traveled home nearly every weekend.
Seems like someone’s out to lunch.
On Senators not writing back… not to defend this trend, but keep in mind that more and more of the letters they receive are generated by people at polls on the internet (“do you want us to write to your senator in your name? Enter your name and address and click ‘yes'”), or email to start with.
That’s a fair point, Neil.
Tell me if I’m misremembering, but didn’t Liddy Dole essentially just do the bare minimum to establish residency in NC, after living most of her adult life in DC with Bob? If so, it’s little wonder that she doesn’t feel the obligation to listen to or be near her alledged constituents.
That’s pretty much correct, Bill. I hesitate to call Dole a carpetbagger–she was born in North Carolina and lived her until her twenties–but in 2002 she was as much an outsider to North Carolina as Hillary Clinton was to New York in 2000. The difference between the two, though, is that Clinton has really made an effort to be attentive to her constituency.