In today’s "After Deadline" column (Contra Costa Times) Dan Hatfield details reaction to the fake letters to the editor story in last Sunday’s paper.

Clearly what Kyle Vallone did, impersonate others, is wrong.  That he was able to get so many letters published is amazing.  Did it shift the debate?  What impact do letters to the editor have?

I’m not sure though that I agree with Hatfield’s attack on what he calls "astroturf" letters.

"As I have written here before, my colleagues and I also have to fight against what we call "Astroturf" letters. These are letters that are sent out by special-interest groups that use the same words and simply sign different names to them. They basically are fake grassroots efforts, hence the nickname."

If more than one person signs an identical letter and includes their name, address and phone number is it "fake"?  I don’t think so.  In this day and age – many people feel strongly about something but don’t have the time to sit and compose a letter to the editor.  They may rely on their trusted "interest group" to help them clarify their thinking and express it by providing sample letters. 

Knight-Ridder buys the ink so the Times and Hatfield get to decide which letters make the paper.  It can’t be easy figuring out which letters are real and fake – as the Kyle Vallone episode shows.  But Vallone’s letters were individually crafted fakes.  If done correctly – the so-called "astroturf" letters are, at least, honest representations of real readers’ opinions.

Members of the Sierra Club are in the midst of balloting over their organization’s position on immigration – whether to further restrict immigration to limit population growth in the United States.  It’s a controversial topic to say the least.

Before voting, however, they may want to read "Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape Our Future" by Ben Wattenberg.  In this book Wattenberg argues that the global decline in fertility/birth rates will ultimately – this century – lead to depopulation not overpopulation.  He also argues that the negative economic consequences of depopulation will be cushioned in the United States because of our more liberal immigration policies.

Immigration and overpopulation may not be the real problem in the long-term.

UPDATE: 4/26/05 –  The Associated Press reports that the members of the Sierra Club rejected the anti-immigration policy:

"Sierra Club members rejected a change in the group’s immigration policy that would have advocated reducing migration to the United States as a way to lessen the environmental consequences of population growth.

The proposal was defeated by nearly 84 percent of the 122,308 members who voted, the club announced in a statement. About 16 percent of the club’s more than 750,000 members cast ballots during voting that began in early March."

Joshua Green has written an interesting article entitled "It Isn’t the Message, Stupid" in the Atlantic Monthly.  It details the Democratic Party’s reassessment after the last election and whether the electoral losses were the result of positions on issues or how Democratic candidates explained their positions to voters.

Of local interest is the role Congressman George Miller played in advancing the argument that it was a problem of messaging rather than the message.  Really?  Guess I better read the book George finds so convincing…