Originally Posted by hobo";p=&quot

I hope you will read the comments about your post - and heed them well. Blind rants via e-mail from "the public" are simply ignored. Everyone has an opinion, and yours is no different that the hundreds of thousand common people that the Congressman represents. It is a common mistake for someone still young.

If you really want to even come close to a Congressman's ear, here are a few things you can do. First, work on his campaign like your life depended upon it. If there is grunt work to do, you volunteer. Walk door to door and hand out fliers. Put up yard signs. Sit on phone banks and make blind phone calls to voters supporting your candidate. Hopefully with your face always at a campaign headquarters, you can meet one or two of the Congressman's staff. Get to know the staff, because they have the Congressman's ear in the future. Consider this a long term investment, because it will take 2 or 3 elections before you become known as a fixture around campaign headquarters.

Then you need to gain a little political clout yourself. Network with people in your community that are political junkies. Meet them for coffee, side with them on community issues. With hard work and money, you may be able to run for (and win) a seat on your local city council. Get to know the "old guard" that kind of runs the town, and the people who make money from the city government. Good examples are the garbage/recycling contract. Large contractors that build roads and water pipes, etc. They all hang around in a group together, and if you can pull some strings to get campaign donations for the Congressman then you start to become a "significant person".

These are just a few tips to start down a path where you can begin to influence beltway politics. Right now you are just another constituent who is wet behind the ears.