When I write a politician, I don’t usually respect a response, because I understand that politicians are busy.

When I get a form letter, probably generated by an autoresponder which searches for key terms like “health care,” it’s just offensive. Dude, if you’re not going to read your correspondence, that’s totally cool, but don’t send out form letters which obviously demonstrate that the correspondence wasn’t read. I sent a thoughtful, well-constructed criticism of the healthcare plan, and got a form letter.

I. Am. Not. Pleased. I would rather get nothing at all than some rote letter telling me to donate to your campaign. Voice for change my ass. When I was a political intern, I actually took the time to READ every single piece of correspondence which entered the office, and I responded to each one. Sometimes, the response was simply “we are inundated with mail, but we did read your letter, and your concerns will be relayed to [politician I worked for]. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.”

Form letter parroting your campaign rhetoric? Not impressive. Boo, Mr. Obama.