A few weeks ago, Republican bloggers were commenting on Gerry Connolly's office sending out a constituent letter that said "Thank You for your interest in _____ issue". I didn't run with it at the time in fairness to Gerry and that it could have been a single mistake.
As it turns out, the problem is much bigger. I'm hearing there were many letters like this sent out, and I have just received another one in my email today. This is constituent service at its worst, and shows an office totally in chaos.
If this continues, voters will likely send Connolly this automated message:
Gerry, thank you for your interest in re-election. Unfortunately due to your job performance we will have to ______ you.
at least his service is slightly better than Bob Brink's service..
Posted by: Not Jim Moran | July 17, 2009 at 03:45 PM
Legislators receive thousands of emails, calls and letters a day. At least, individuals are receiving a response back, even if isn't very detailed. An acknowledgement is better than nothing at all.
Posted by: KC | July 17, 2009 at 04:10 PM
That's all right. Being in Congress is a comedown for Gerry. After all, he evidently served in the Senate according to this quote from the Shenanigans blog in POLITICO today:
Still, one freshman who did go, Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), told Shenanigans: “Joe Biden threw a great party last night. It was fun, it was bipartisan and no one spoke about work. It was also great to renew my acquaintance with the vice president, dating back to the days when I served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”
I don't recall Senator Connelly's term in office or his service/membership ON the committee. He was have been a staffer FOR the committee at one time. But that sounds so much less impressive than having served on it. Small word. A big difference.
Posted by: Larry Sabato's Hairpiece | July 17, 2009 at 04:34 PM
KC,
I have to disagree with you. The only member of Congress that I ever have contacted who failed to acknowledge my letter was George Allen--and I had to send him a snail mail because his web site had no email link or web form. (When I called his office and asked for an email address for constituent contacts, the woman told me that "we're working on that." This was over two years after he was elected.)
Every other member promptly responds to constituent communications, acknowledging your reason for contacting him. When I contacted Tom Davis because I disagreed with his position on an issue (which was usually the case), his response would summarize why he had a certain position, indicating to me that 1) someone was actually reading my letter, and 2) he was getting a lot of mail that didn't support his position. But, at least his office acknowledged the communications in a manner that indicated someone was actually reading them.
There is a reason that members of the lower house are called "representatives." They directly represent the people of their district, as opposed to senators who represent their states directly and the citizens thereof indirectly. They enjoy a large staff both on Capitol Hill and in their district offices that is paid for by the taxpayers. They also enjoy the free labor of volunteer interns. If a member of the House cannot be bothered to even read and categorize communications from his constituents, then how is he representing them at all?
Just what you would expect of Boss Gerry. However, he will get re-elected handily because he is a Democrat and all the Demo-drones will dutifully vote for him.
Posted by: HisRoc | July 17, 2009 at 04:52 PM
I don't know Cong Connolly, but my Congressman, Tom Perriello, sends out those same email letters.
however, both Connolly & Perriello signed a letter indicating their opposition to another tax increase instigated by Pelosi. So that's a positive.
Posted by: kelley in virginia | July 17, 2009 at 07:09 PM
Another example of Ben becoming politically "unhinged".
How many times has this happened this week alone?
Posted by: Tom Paine | July 17, 2009 at 09:22 PM
The liberals don't actually care that you contact them. They are taking their orders fromt the three stooges and will vote as they are told.
It is change that you have to get used to.
Posted by: change | July 17, 2009 at 09:36 PM
In the Dale City parade is rode in his convertable too good to shake peoples hands. He is a lazy pol but the district is fair Dem so to beat him BO numbers will have to be BAD.
Posted by: Stonewall Brigade | July 17, 2009 at 10:26 PM
I get the same kind of insulting responses from Webb, Warner and Moran as described coming from Connolly. It's like they all bought the same software.
These responses are transparent blow-offs and quite arrogant.
Posted by: Martin Lomasney | July 18, 2009 at 10:09 AM
change = status quo!
Posted by: Tom Paine | July 18, 2009 at 01:20 PM
kelley in virginia, I'd love to see an e-mail from Congressman Perriello in which he uses _____ instead of an actual issue. All offices send out some confirmation e-mail, but most have at least the decency to make sure it doesn't have random blanks. Not Connolly.
Posted by: NotAndySere | July 18, 2009 at 01:29 PM
This is a very common practice, I know Rep. Scott's office does it as well.
Basically, the premise is to send an immediate response to the constituent and then to the follow up with a detailed letter.
And, FYI- this is not "constituent services"...ie casework. This is under the domain of legislative staff- LAs and LCs- they send the mail, not the district staff.
Posted by: proudvadem | July 18, 2009 at 02:15 PM
And HisRoc, not too sure where ya heard there is a "large" staff in DC and in the district.
Each member is limited to aprox 16 staff members, when you have a district of several hundreds of thousands, that is not much.
Plus, as for interns..they are quite limited in the scope of their positions and what they are able to assist on.
Posted by: proudvadem | July 18, 2009 at 02:18 PM
I apologize. I misunderstood the post. I will agree that it is improper for the Congressman to be sending out an e-mail saying "______ issue." My argument is that it is proper to send out an email confirming receipt of the constituent's letter.
Posted by: KC | July 18, 2009 at 11:52 PM
proudvadem,
You don't consider a office staff of 16 to be large? Have you ever been in the executive suite of the CEO of a Fortune 100 company? I have, and 16 is on the high side. As to the district having hundreds of thousands of voting residents, about 51% of the registered voters in the 11th CD voted in the 2008 general election, an exceptionally large turn-out. How many do you suppose have contacted Connolly's office since then? Assuming that 5% have done so on an annualized basis, that is less than 70 each business day, or about seven per hour in a typical Capitol Hill workday. Do you suppose that one person could keep up with that? And that is a top estimate, given that 5% is a huge turn-out in a primary election and represents the number of 'involved' voters.
As to interns, my niece interned in the executive office of a large non-profit organization when she was an undergrad at Georgetown. Halfway through the summer, she was drafting policy papers. Don't tell me that interns can't read constituent communications and respond to them.
Posted by: HisRoc | July 19, 2009 at 01:05 AM
Let me be clear the responses from Webb, Warner & Moran were not receipt acknowledgments but the supposed follow-on "substantive reply".
These fools have no respect for their constituents who send them e-mails.
The substantive replys have been uniformly vague, condescending, dismissive and non-responsive to specific issues raised in the e-mails.
Message from these D pols to constituents: "We don't care what you think. You have nothing to contribute to our deliberations. Stop bothering us with these pesky, nuisance e-mails and let us do what the lobbyists for our corporate contributors want. And you will like it because there's a D next to our name."
I voted for these guys instead of the other guys, why?
Posted by: Martin Lomasney | July 19, 2009 at 01:15 AM
Oh, and the "substantive reply" regularly arrives 6-12 weeks after my e-mail and 4-8 weeks after their vote on the bill I was writing about.
Posted by: Martin Lomasney | July 19, 2009 at 01:19 AM
HisRoc,
I'm not going to elaborate, but you don't get it and have NO clue how a Congressional office works.
Glad your niece was drafting "substantive" policy papers but she was not in a Senate office, either. you are comparing too vastly different things.
Next time, do a little research and actually talk to someone who knows before you reply!
Posted by: proudvadem | July 19, 2009 at 11:48 AM
proudvadem,
Please don't elaborate because I do get it. You're a Connolly drone and can't stand it when anyone dares to criticize Boss Gerry.
Apparently, if I have NO clue how a Congressional office works, then I'm right up there with Gerry Connolly and his chief of staff.
We would NOT have be having this discussion here if his failure to adequately respond to constituents was not so remarkable when compared to other members of Congress.
End of story.
Posted by: HisRoc | July 19, 2009 at 04:31 PM
It is clear how they operate.
It is also clear how the democrats operate in passing legislation.
Rule number one: Do as the leaders tell you.
Rule number two: Do not read the legislation. (keep yourself as ignorant as your supporters)
Rule number three: If your constituants have any questions use the talking points provided by the leadership.
Rule number four: If you have any questions refer to rule number one.
Posted by: change | July 19, 2009 at 05:26 PM
HisRoc,
Dude, you are WAY off....I don't even live in his district. I just know how the offices run.
I've never met the guy, don't know him, etc.
I don't care whether he is criticized or not- I'm just trying to explain how these offices operate- which you don't seem to understand.
You may want to address your concerns to his DC staff- THEY are responsible for correspondence, not the district offices.
Posted by: proudvadem | July 19, 2009 at 09:35 PM
You obviously have no clue about how a congressional office runs because you compare it to your nieces internship in a private company, you're comparing apples with oranges... maybe you should get your behind up from hiding behind the computer and make it to the DC office of Gerald Connolly and talk to the staff about your concerns instead of trying to ruin this mans' reputation by using a blog, who are you ??? are you even living in his district??? or just someone who is getting paid to spread negative messages on the internet about a certain person?
Why don't you write about how the Republicans embarrassed us to the rest of the world for the past 8 years huh?
Posted by: vademgirl | July 23, 2009 at 12:56 PM