I think it's a combination of voting and making phone calls/writing to your congressman. But it takes a major, major event for people to do enough of the phone calls/writing.

I've seen that a couple congressman have changed from supporting the white house on their veto of SCHIP to voting against the veto based on calls to their offices.

>Vote. It's a piddle in a big pond but it can't hurt.
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>What do you know? -- Crash is coming around. Maybe his puppy madness has passed because he has become a lot calmer.
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>I just called for him and he came running. He likes having his head rubbed behind the ears. His head is already trending towards a concrete block. The vet -- whose name is Dr. Barcus, I swear I am not making that up -- said let's get his weight up and that is happening.
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>There was not one pee in the house for several days until this afternoon. Life is good. Puppies really are almost like babies. You think you are going absolutely nuts and then one day the tide turns.
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>>I don't think that everybody is OK with it happening. What can the average Joe do? He no longer has to be watched every second. I can't tell you what a relief that is. He still has his moments -- for instance, when I went out yesterday to pick Emily up from volleyball Allie left the new Entertainment Weekly on the floor and Crash shredded it -- but I think we are through the worst.
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>>>That and the erosion of civil liberties are the greatest tragedies to occur in this country. I cannot believe that everyone is ok with it happening.
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>>>>From the description it's more of a historical record of the process cheney, addington, etc. have gone thru to get the expansion of powers they so greatly desired. Hopefully, others can use what they learn from this episode to put in place controls so this never happens again.