Thursday, November 20, 2008

Advice for Hagan: Hep 'em all

As Sen.-elect Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, prepares to move to Washington to succeed Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., it's worth considering one hallmark of successful Senators: They're known for first-rate constituent services in the nation's capital. Most every member of Congress with any hopes of staying in the House or Senate understands that, at least on a theoretical level. And my guess is that every member already believes he or she has one of the best constituent-service offices in the nation's history -- staffers who will help run interference with Social Security problems, or passport problems, or Veterans Administration cases, or just rounding up an American flag that's flown over the Capitol for an elementary school class.

But some senators are a lot better at it than others. During the past few years we heard regularly from folks who claimed to have written Dole's office about one matter or another, often but not always seeking help, and who said they never heard back. That's the kind of thing that may be a matter of a simple mistake or a lost communication, but it can also turn a supporter into an opponent. Perhaps it's one of the things that turned Elizabeth Dole into a one-term senator.

My guess is Hagan's uncle, former Sen. Lawton Chiles, D-FL, had a pretty good operation, too. She saw it from the inside when she worked there for a while, so no doubt she understands the value.

Hagan ought to give some thought to how the offices of two conservative icons ran their constituent service organizations. The late Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., had a crackerjack outfit that had the reputation of jumping to help any North Carolinian with a problem in Washington or with any federal agency.

And the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., may have set the gold standard. I was reading about this recently in a book of reminiscences, "The Centennial Senators." Lee Bandy, reporter and columnist for The State in newspaper (and an old friend from my Washington days), says that when Thurmond was asked what he liked best about the job, he would always say, "Hep'n people."

Duke Short, Thurmond's top aide who pulled the book together after Thurmond's death, said Thurmond used to tell his staff, "It doesn't matter to me what your job is. We're here to help people. And if you can't help people, we're going to help you go somewhere else real quick." Short recalled that Thurmond always gave this answer for how he'd like to be remembered: "Hep'n people! All the people."

Evidently it didn't matter who you were. As Short noted, if you were from South Carolina, or went to school in South Carolina, or once lived in South Carolina, or were related to people from South Carolina, or had driven through South Carolina, or had once been to the beach in South Carolina, that was good enough to get help from Thurmond's office. I think that's essentially the way Helms' office handled the job. It evidently didn't matter who you were or whether you liked what the senators did on other issues. If you needed help, you got it.

Considering that Thurmond served in the Senate for about half a century, and that Helms served 30 years and never lost a race, a new senator with hopes for a long tenure in Washington ought to think pretty carefully about the value of hep'n people.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Strom Thurmond absolutely set the gold standard for constituent service. When he ran for re-election in 1978, he was endorsed by the African-American mayor of a small black-majority town in a rural part of the state. Asked how a civil rights activist could justify his support for a former segregationist, the mayor replied simply that Thurmond's office had gotten funding to pave the town's main street, which they had been seeking for years. And everyone in South Carolina - regardless of race, party or anything else -really does have a Thurmond story like that.

Anonymous said...

bicycles,單車,成立公司
,租車,地產,成立公司,
瘦身,冲孔网,成立公司,
成立公司,wholesale abercrombie,補習,
租車,裝修,中港車批文,
中港租車,租車,租車,
村屋,破產,破產,信用卡,債務舒緩,舒緩債務,免費債務諮詢,財務,債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,財務,drp 債務舒緩計劃,美容,模型,搬屋,搬屋,金融,模型,sleepy,補習,瘦身,
藝術治療,冷氣,偵探,
跟蹤,歷史悠久偵探,
SEO

Anonymous said...

poodle,印刷,地產,
Sai Kung property,廣告,
online shop,seo,潮流鞋類,
IVA,internat marketing,webdesign,
香港酒店,澳門酒店,曼谷酒店,
北京酒店,清邁酒店,
廣州酒店,香港酒店,
香港酒店預定,香港酒店,
hong kong hotel,星加坡酒店,
hotels,hong kong hotels,
日本酒店,韓國酒店,

Anonymous said...

清卡數,補習,補習,china mobile phone,珠寶設計繪圖入門,裝修,
遊船河,酒店,酒店,
模型,美容,網頁設計,
accounting,成立公司,
租車,清潔,美容,
裝修,EDM,fashion,
求職,斗地主,結婚,
醫療用品,傢俬,創業,
網站推廣,seo,seo,
seo training course,姻緣配對,投資,
日本代購商品,珠寶,
私人貸款,物流公司,
市場推廣,美容,
office furniture,Piano,

Anonymous said...

http://www.diamondbladesusa.com

Anonymous said...

美容,employment assessment scheme,美甲,
成立公司,搬屋,搬屋,
金融,sleepy,cartier,
concord watch,iwc watch,
omega watch hk,penerai,
rolex watch,手錶,補習,
tutor,貨架,business formation,
會計服務,冷氣,偵探,
跟蹤,歷史悠久偵探,貨架,
SEO

Anonymous said...

hong kong hotel,星加坡酒店,酒店訂房優惠,
hotels,hong kong hotels,日本酒店,
韓國酒店,macau hotel,馬來西亞酒店,
singapore hotels,台灣酒店,香港酒店,
拉斯維加斯酒店,墨爾本酒店,芭堤雅酒店,
布吉酒店,上海酒店,新加坡酒店,
悉尼酒店,珠海酒店,成立公司,
租車,香薰,DIY護膚品,補習介紹,
交友,單車,成立公司,
租車,地產,心理治療,
冲孔网,鑽石戒指,脊醫,
成立公司,成立公司,wholesale abercrombie,
果籃,insurance,船運保險,
耳穴,裝修,中港車批文,
機場接送,中港租車,租車,
租車,旅遊巴士,破產,
破產,信用卡,債務舒緩,
舒緩債務,免費債務諮詢,財務,
債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,
債務重組,債務重組,債務重組,
財務,drp 債務舒緩計劃,求職,

Anonymous said...

斗地主,結婚,醫療用品,
傢俬,創業,網站推廣,
seo,seo,seo training course,
姻緣配對,投资移民香港,
投資移民香港,移民,
日本代購商品,珠寶,drp,
物流公司,市場推廣,美容,
office furniture,商業攝影,Piano,
poodle,印刷,地產,
Sai Kung property,禮品,seo,
潮流鞋類,IVA,補習,
internat marketing,webdesign,香港酒店,
澳門酒店,曼谷酒店,北京酒店,
清邁酒店,廣州酒店,香港酒店,
香港酒店預定,香港酒店,

Anonymous said...

清卡數,china mobile phone,
珠寶設計繪圖入門,遊船河,
酒店,酒店,美容,
網頁設計,accounting,
公司註冊,會計服務,
報稅服務,機票,核數,
貨架,成立公司,租車,
清潔,美容,裝修,
EDM,fashion,求職,