It’s really awkward at first, but it does get easier.
I use the following rough format to get through my daily calls to Democratic officials:
I try to do the following on every call:
1. Have a primary topic and concern. This last Friday it was blocking the SAVE Act as the loose language in the bill can be abused to block ANYONE who changed their name, including married women.
2. A general focused message on getting DOGE out of the government.
3. Demand they form an opposition party and do everything they can to stop or delay this administration's actions until they stop trying to push Project 2025 on the nation.
3. If they've done anything helpful—like when Schumer did an overnight filibuster of Kennedy—I give them kudos. Figure they'll need that as things get darker.
I spend the most time on the Primary issue; ie: “The SAVE Act is something you can block as Senators. The Brennan Center for Justice has already studied this and found 22 million active voters would immediately be disenfranchised; and that doesn’t include the number of married women who changed their name and can easily be targeted by bad actors. Block the SAVE Act.”
Then I touch on each of the other bullet points in passing:
* “DOGE should not be in our nation’s systems. Keep up the pressure and keep working with independent organizations bringing lawsuits to stop their dismantling of the Federal Government.”
* “We need Democrats to be an opposition party based in truth and reality. We need you all to do this NOW and to show a united front publicly. Right now it looks haphazard at best.”
* (If applicable) “Thank you for *DOING THING*. I appreciate you stepping up. Thank you.”
And that’s it.
There are also sites and apps that can help with scripts. 5calls.org is really helpful for this.
One Note: For Republican officials, I only bring the Primary issue at the moment. I don’t expect them to care about DOGE or executive overreach at the moment since they’re all silent on the issue.
What I do know is they still have to get re-elected, so if they know their district is angry about a specific topic, we may be able to sway them.
That’s a long shot for me—my Rep is Stefanik—but maybe you’ll have better luck on that front. 🙂
Does that help?
