Eric Miller reminds us that thanking legislators when they do good things is a very important part of successful grassroots advocacy, even if you're not always feeling grateful. He writes:
Having voted with the Bush administration 90% of the time these past 7 or 8 years, Senator Smith has not been representing my interests in Congress. However, there have been two things that he's done that I'm pleased with. First, he was the first republican to break with the administration on the Iraq war. Second, and the reason for this post, is that his climate change speech on the senate floor two weeks ago was a complete about-face for a senator who has had quite a history voting for oil and gas interests.
Never mind that he has taken some $276,000 in oil money for his campaigns. And despite the fact that he has voted seven times to give oil companies tax breaks, I'm asking you this favor.
His speech and his vote to end the filibuster last week on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 (S.3036) deserves a huge thank you from all of us. Let's just be clear: he didn't vote for the bill, he only voted to continue debate on the bill. But he has come a long way and not only admits that climate change is real but that we need to do something about it. He realizes Merkley is knocking on his door with a sledge hammer.
As we've discussed before, it's important to give positive reinforcement to our leaders. Please send him a big THANK YOU note to make sure he knows that "We The Mamas and Papas" agree with his support of strong climate change legislation.
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