From my time working in the Salem to help move Oregon toward better use of Open Source software, I ended up on a number of mailing lists and have communications open with legislators from both sides of the aisle.

Both R & D legislators regularly publish things they have accomplished they believe will appeal. This is good overall as one gets to know where they stand on things, that they are adding value (even if one does not agree, that's not the point), and that work is generally getting done.

From my perspective, there are not a lot of differences between the two so far.

A fair number of legislators publish a newsletter of sorts. For some, the above is mixed in with news people might find useful. For others, these are separate things.

Generally speaking, there are differences in what I get. There are more national tie-ins from the Republican side. There is more general news and information from the Democratic side. (things that are somewhat related to active legislation, pending, proposed, etc...)

The big difference is in the calls to action, or agenda e-mails.

A good example would be health care:

R: Keep your taxes low, preserve your choice, etc... We are working hard to keep health care free, tell your friends to attend the town hall on [date] to show your support for us, learn how you can help, etc. We will be meeting at [venue].

D: We are having a town hall meeting to discuss national health care. You and your friends are invited to the town hall on [date]. Topics to be discussed are [topics].

The framing on these kinds of things is divisive on the Republican side, far more than it is on the Democratic side. They are often quite a bit more specific in what they ask for, but not always.

And yes, those are contrived examples I'm putting out there for general discussion. I didn't want to clutter things up with reproductions of various e-mails. I'm really just looking for differences in form and approach to learn a little something, not characterize as one being better, worse, etc... (feel free to engage in that, if it stimulates discussion, but it's not the focus on this thread.)

Are any of you on mailings like this, and if so, are you seeing similar things, different ones? Just curious as to your experiences, if any.

Most importantly, do you get e-mails from both parties that represent you?

I get emails from Larry Galizio because I contacted him and I can even vote for him. He's a good guy. My local legislators don't send me anything. My statev senator ignores emais from me.