My letter. Feedback please!

[JenH88]

Dear Mr./Mrs.,

I was never the type of person to get involved with politics- politicians were always so disconnected from normal middle class Americans and the most
important issues to us. I ask that you take five minutes from your day to listen to the words of a concerned patriot.

I remember those times in school when they first taught us the history of our great country. I remember the pride I had as a child, to be a citizen of this country. A country built by such brilliant, logical, and fair human beings. Now as a young adult and having seen the reality we live in, I can't believe a country with such pure intentions could become this. I can't believe how far we have come from our roots- how many freedoms we have given up to the people who claim to protect us. As a young mother, I fear the world my daughter will have to face. I fear the reality she would have to raise her children in.

Beginning with the coming Iowa Caucus this January 3rd, we have a chance to make our voices heard. We will once again, do our duty as Americans and cast our votes for our presidential candidate choice. I don't think you must vote for Dr. Ron Paul, but I do think you owe it to yourself and the future of this country to listen to all of the candidates positions so you can make an informed decision based on your own personal values.

*Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate that wants the troops to come home, not in 2 years, not in 6 months- now.

*Ron Paul wants to get rid of the Federal Income tax. If we cut federal spending back to the amount spent in the year 2000, just that of 7 years ago, we could do without the federal income tax. The average American with an income of $40,000 would have an average extra $5,000 a year.

*Ron Paul voted against the Patriot Act and Real ID card. Ron Paul strongly opposes warrant less wiretapping, warrant less searches, torture tactics. Ron Paul also opposes any ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens’ personal matters.

*Ron Paul does not support amnesty for illegal aliens. Ron Paul wants our borders secured now and visa rules enforced.

*Ron Paul thinks that we should not have our "noses" in other country's' affairs, that we should not try to police the world and tell other countries what they can and can't do. Don't mistake this for isolationism, Ron Paul supports a non-interventionist foreign policy- trade with other nations, travel, and talk but don't try to run and police the world.

*Ron Paul is a self proclaimed Constitionalist and his voting record proves it. Ron Paul has the cleanest voting record of all presidential candidates- even his competition cannot dispute this. He has never voted for an unbalanced budget, never voted to raise taxes.

*Ron Paul wants to bring back the value of our dollar, stop deficit spending, and stop America's financial dependence on other nations.

I urge you to visit www.ronpaul2008.com or call (703) 248-9115 to learn about Dr. Ron Paul's views on issues that are important to you. The most important thing you can do as an American is make your voice heard, no matter whom you prefer. May your family be prosperous this holiday season and into the coming year. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Habrelewicz
A concerned fellow patriot, never paid, fighting for freedom.

[WilliamC]

Greetings All,

Include the toll-free phone number 888-828-7285 instead. I made the same mistake with my first 10 letters :)

Also, include a flyer, I use the "issues" one from the campaign website.

Thanks to all for everything you are doing!

William C Colley

[JenH88]

Just realized the number bout 5 mins. ago. Including a slim jim as well. =)

[beerista]

never paid = volunteer?
Constitionalist = Constitutionalist
I might mention that he wants to eliminate the Income Tax... and replace it with nothing. Now that Huchabee is starting to get some traction with his line about REPLACING the IRS, we need to distinguish Paul's anti-IRS position.

These are general notes. If this is your final version, you have a couple of punctuation and spelling mistakes (the only one I was terribly worried about is above) that you might want to clean up depending on what sort of audience this is intended for, but I think it's pretty good: heartfelt, informative, straightforward.
What is the intended use, by the way?

[JenH88]

never paid = volunteer?
Constitionalist = Constitutionalist
I might mention that he wants to eliminate the Income Tax... and replace it with nothing. Now that Huchabee is starting to get some traction with his line about REPLACING the IRS, we need to distinguish Paul's anti-IRS position.

These are general notes. If this is your final version, you have a couple of punctuation and spelling mistakes (the only one I was terribly worried about is above) that you might want to clean up depending on what sort of audience this is intended for, but I think it's pretty good: heartfelt, informative, straightforward.
What is the intended use, by the way?

Thanks. This isn't the final draft, actually it's the first. I used "never paid" instead because in this day and age people don't really associate the two together all the time. When gathering signatures here in Illinois we had people asking all the time if we were paid, some whom which re-asked the question after we said we were volunteers... sad.. LOL. The intended use is for the letter writing campaign in IO/NH/SC.

[JenH88]

*bump* any other feedback?

[beerista]

Thanks. This isn't the final draft, actually it's the first. I used "never paid" instead because in this day and age people don't really associate the two together all the time. When gathering signatures here in Illinois we had people asking all the time if we were paid, some whom which re-asked the question after we said we were volunteers... sad.. LOL. The intended use is for the letter writing campaign in IO/NH/SC.

Sad indeed. If we're trying to proselytize to folks who don't understand the meaning of 'volunteer,' then good luck with monetary and foreign policy. Oh well. :)
Looks good, though. Just clean up the obvious stuff that you'd get on a quick edit and let 'er rip. Good job.

By the way, do we have any indication, either from this or previous campaigns, what sort of dividends to expect from letter writing?

[JenH88]

Sad indeed. If we're trying to proselytize to folks who don't understand the meaning of 'volunteer,' then good luck with monetary and foreign policy. Oh well. :)
Looks good, though. Just clean up the obvious stuff that you'd get on a quick edit and let 'er rip. Good job.

By the way, do we have any indication, either from this or previous campaigns, what sort of dividends to expect from letter writing?

Cleaned up all the spelling mistakes n such. I don't think anyone has found the hard evidence on how effective letter writing is, but I'd imagine it's a great idea. I'm pretty sure everyone handles there mail in a similar manner. I pick up my mail, flip through it, put junk mail in one pile and mail I need in another. Anything handwritten automatically goes in the mail to actually look through. I think this is a great tactic, the handwritten element draws them in, then once they start reading they'll have to finish it out of human curiosity- remember, even the people that hate Ron Paul supporters still for some reason read all the news pertaining to us, the more people we can get to listen, the more support we will get- the message of freedom sells itself. :D

[rs3515]

CI don't think anyone has found the hard evidence on how effective letter writing is, but I'd imagine it's a great idea.

Jen, I can tell you there is hard evidence of the impact. Given that I'm very familiar with direct mail marketing campaigns, I bet I can guess within a few thousand votes the impact the letter writing will have in Iowa. It is very tangible.

[Dave Pedersen]

many people do not realize the income tax is only about 45-50% of current revenue. this will help them understand we will still have considerable revenue after eliminating the income tax. combined with what you have stated about returning to year 2000 levels this should help people know it can be realistically done.

You may want to mention social security is in danger and Ron Paul intends to protect it. This can be funded by bringing our troops home from over 700 bases around the world. Ron Paul wants to protect our dollar and our economy from reckless empire building. If we continue our current foreign policy we will destroy our dollar and will be forced to bring our troops home to a shattered economy.

[Charles Wilson]

The letter is excellent. I wish we could send it to every American. I have one observation: Ron Paul wants to bring our troops home from over 130 countries -- not just Iraq. That act alone would save this country billions of dollars each year.

[JenH88]

The letter is excellent. I wish we could send it to every American. I have one observation: Ron Paul wants to bring our troops home from over 130 countries -- not just Iraq. That act alone would save this country billions of dollars each year.

Thanks and noted. I may begin eliminating the list of issues on my letters and just encourage them to look at the information. Saves a little time with the letter writing and let's them feel more in control of finding Ron Paul- seems less pushy when someone suggests looking over information instead of them just bombarding you with a list of reasons (even though the list of reasons are awesome)... I want them to know that I'm not just pushing the message of Ron Paul, I'm pushing the message of freedom and the message of self education. I think anyone who actually does the research will find Ron Paul is the only logical consistent candidate up there. They just need someone to expose them to the message. =) Keep up the good work everyone!!