Immigration reform critics flood Senate with phone calls
The calls have stiffened the spine of GOP Senators who might otherwise bend to pressure from business groups and from influential people in their home state, such as editorial writers and clerics, said Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which provides a free phone service for Americans who oppose the massive rewrite.
“Our lines sent in hundreds of thousands of calls in the last month,” said Beck. “The senators spend most of their time with big-time donors, and lobbyists and leaders of special-interest groups, and they don’t have much time to spend with voters in their states… [so] faxes, phone-calls and emails are virtually the only way that voters can have access, “ Beck said.
Without the calls, the Democratic leadership would have gotten up to 85 votes in the critical Monday cloture-vote, leaving only 15 against amnesty and guest-workers, Beck estimated. “The phones calls have bumped it up from 15 to 27 or 31,” he said.
Since then, the pro-immigration coalition has changed its language and tactics, and has spent a lot of money on advertising, lobbying and public relations, said Beck. There’s no independent means to measure the volume and direction of calls to Senators’ offices.
http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/25/immigration-reform-critics-flood-senate-with-phone-calls/