There must be 50 ways: Participating in democracy #27: Blog

When Obama threatened to go to war against Syria, I asked some peace friends to go to Senator Jeff Merkley's Portland office with me to hand his staffers letters from us opposing that idea. A handful of folks showed up on short notice. 

We went to the downtown Portland office and, since we had done a campaign of nonviolent resistance to Merkley's predecessor, a Republican who always voted for war, the building security blocked us from entering. We asked them to at least notify the Merkley crew of the presence of constituents and they did. 

Down came the Chief of Staff to the street to meet. She said we could make an appointment, and she would make time for us. I thanked her, gave her my card, she promised to be in touch, and we left. 

More than a week went by with no word from the Merkley crew. I mentioned it in my little blog and--pow!--within an hour I got a call from the Merkley Chief of Staff inviting us to meet. 

I had no idea, but it turned out that one of my blog subscribers was a large donor to the Merkley campaign and he read about our trip to Merkley's office, the unfulfilled promise from the Chief of Staff, and called her. She instantly called me. 

Sometimes our ways to participate in democracy can seem convoluted and almost a chance for futility vs. a serendipitous chance for occasional effectiveness. Indeed, I suspect that is the norm. Looking for a guarantee is the hopeless quest.