Using Facebook to Lobby Thayer

The social networking site Facebook has been a key way to mobilize members and allies of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth for a few years now - for events, legislative call-in actions, etc.

But today may have been the first big (albeit fairly spontaneous) instance of lots of KFTC members and allies using Facebook to both organize and directly contact a legislator to demonstrate support for a bill. 

Senator Damon Thayer has been preventing HB 70, our bill to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society, from being voted on in his committee.  He also uses Facebook to organize his own supporters.

Today, over 80 KFTC members and allies contacted Thayer by leaving public messages on his Facebook page, all asking him to support and/or allow HB 70 to come to a vote in his committee. 

You can see the full list of comments and leave your own (polite but firm) encouragement to Thayer to allow his committee to vote on HB 70 at Damon Thayer's Facebook Page HERE.  Maybe we can top 100 comments.

This has also proven to be a great way to get people to write down how they feel about an issue so they can use that same content in a letter to the editor.  At least two of the people who have posted to Thayer's Facebook wall have already submitted the same letter to their local newspaper.

We even got a little local blog attention from the folks over at Barefoot and Progressive. 

Kudos for the idea of posting the requests on Thayer's wall. I hope it is wildly successful. And just as an aside, it is so encouraging to see all of the comments. Nothing against calling the message line, but this action gives you a real visual of solidarity on this issue." - Hillary Bullock, after she left a note on Thayer's wall.

We'll see how Senator Damon Thayer responds. 

And either way, we'll keep calling, writing, holding events, going door-to-door, and building leaders until we win this one.