Power to the people (Barack Obama)
I was blown away this morning when I opened my inbox. Here’s the first part of the email I received from Mitch Stewart at BarackObama.com that made me sit up:
Toby —
At hundreds of events across the country, everyday Americans are sending an urgent message to their senators: Pass strong Wall Street reform.
With a Senate vote on reform expected as early next week, the bank lobbyists are rallying — trying to water down the bill by sneaking in a wide array of loopholes.
But pressure from people like you is changing the equation.
Just days ago, Republicans in the Senate were standing firm with their Wall Street allies, voting repeatedly to block the bill. Then you spoke out, generating more than half a million actions in support of reform. And Senate Republicans caved.
In these final days before the vote, we need to continue ramping up the pressure. We must ensure the Senate bill stays strong enough to do what’s necessary to rein in Wall Street and protect American consumers. Take a minute to tell Senators Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning today to stand up to the big banks and support reform.
Speak out for strong Wall Street reform now by calling your senators — and then please let us know how your call went. Please call:
— Sen. McConnell at (202) 224-2541
— Sen. Bunning at (202) 224-4343
Pressure.
Regardless of whether you are American or not, this is an extraordinary example of how an ongoing web strategy has been used to achieve an outcome.
From his presidential campaign, Barack Obama was able to build a list of approximately 13 million email addresses.
Now years later this email is sent out. (There have been plenty of others but this one just hit my buttons!)
A very simple call to action is clearly stated on the email – call the senators.
The office phone numbers are provided right next to the call to action – all of the information you need to complete the action.
If you click through the “please let us know” link, you are provided with a reminder of etiquette for the phone call and a very simple phone script to follow.
If you make the call, then there is a very simple mechanism to provide feedback on the response – 2 drop down boxes with 3 selections.
Simple. Clear. Immensely powerful.
I would love to know how many people take action and then be sitting at the office of the senators receiving the calls…
Hat off to them. David Plouffe, Mitch Stewart and their team changed the game in their use of the web and social media for political campaigning. If you want to learn about web strategy – sign up as a recipient of these emails.
Power to the people.
