What happens is the press assistant drafts a list of talking points for all the major issues they're receiving calls about. This gets dispersed to the staff assistants and interns, who answer the phones. If you call in reference to one of those points, you get the talking point. If you call in reference to something else, they say there's no official statement at the moment but that they can take down your opinion and pass it along if you'd like. They may even take your name and zip code, if they care enough to humor you.
That's the end of it. Nothing gets passed on. Most of the time, they're barely listening to you. Some senators from small states like an issue list with a tally of how many people called in reference to certain subjects, and what number were pro/con. But that's rare, and that's the closest you'll get to being heard.
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11-28-2011, 09:20 PM
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