Bill Cotterell, 05/08/2012, the Current Florida

Kevin Cate, a public relations and campaign adviser, said his survey of legislative staff shows that personal contact matters most. 

Going to see legislators in person with a personal message about how a bill affects their home districts is still the best way of influencing what happens in Florida's Capitol, according to an insider survey of House and Senate staff members.

The staff survey by Kevin Cate, a governmental public relations and campaign adviser, shows that cranking out form letters or bombarding lawmakers with identical emails are probably the worst ways of getting their attention. And "new media" -- especially Facebook -- are increasingly influential for those who know how to use it, Cate said Tuesday.

"Never under-estimate the power of a person with acompelling story to tell," Cate told an interviewer. "Despite what people believe about bundling campaign money and the shady reputation of Tallahassee, there is nothing more important than an advocate with information to rise to a level of importance for lawmakers."

Cate asked 52 House and Senate aides what influences their bosses the most. He said "in person visits" were cited by more than 99 percent of the staffers, followed by personal letters (97.7 percent) and individual emails (93.2 percent). Phone calls and visits by a designated member of an interest group also outscored visits by lobbyists -- who were still in the 95th percent range.

News media endorsements also were rated highly by legislative staff, but "comments on social media sites" were cited by about two-thirds of the veteran aides.

"Facebook is the most effective way for lawmakers to gauge public opinion," said Cate.

Putting bundles of mail on a lawmaker's desk has traditionally be considered a good way of exerting pressure, but Cate found that form letters, postcards and petitions were not as highly regarded as the personal touch. And he said it's important for citizens to have a personal story or data to show how a government decision will affect a legislators' constituents.

That was demonstrated in the past session when the Department of Corrections moved to close Jefferson Correctional Institution. With 167 jobs, the prison is the largest employer in Jefferson County, so city and county officials banded together to bring scores of families to the Capitol, pleading with budget writers to spare the prison -- and they succeeded.

Cate said the outpouring of public concern about Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, following the Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford, was another example of personal contact causing legislators to feel pressure from both sides of the gun issue.

Veteran lobbyist Barney Bishop, former CEO of Associated Industries of Florida, said he was not surprised by Cate's findings. Even lawyers with mounds of statistics and polling data can't compete with a well-organized show of strength from a legislator's district, he said.

"The Legislature sees us lobbyists all the time," said Bishop. "That's why a good lobbyist brings the clients into town -- and it's extremely important that the hometown folks go see the legislators back there, too. They'll have more time to talk, more focus, because up here they can only talk with you for a little while, then they got somebody else pressing to see them."

Cate, who has worked for several Democratic officeholders and candidates, said his Internet-based survey of legislative staffers tilted Republican -- about 79 percent of those polled worked for GOP members. That is a somewhat higher than the proportion of Republicans to Democrats in the House and Senate.

And where do legislators get their most influential information?

Cate's survey said almost all staffers rated public events, personal contacts and "town hall" forums as the most effective ways legislators gather information. But Facebook was cited by 71 percent and 60 percent rated Twitter either "effective" or "very effective."

No matter the means of reaching a legislator, Cate said the message matters most.

He said almost four out of five legislative aides in his survey believed a personal story of how a bill would affect a constituent was most effective, followed by more than three-fourths who said the impact of legislation on a legislator's local community was most effective.