From Petri Darby:
The mass duplication of material - e-mails, letters, phone scripts - is also a popular tactic in attempts to advance legsislation. When I was a lobbyist, I provided all of those things to students in the dorms, in clubs, in student government, etc.
The other issue is that, yes, those tactics have been successful in the past, but we've lowered the bar on grassroots campaigns to the point where such mass expressions have become so familiar to elected officials that it's diluted the ability to identify the truly important issues.
We've also made it so easy for people to participate in the political process without any thought or personal effort, that we've lost respect for a good healthy debate based on education and individual thought and response.
I think that the most powerful, and most ethical, forms of public relations educate and empower publics to represent themselves - not just get the end result. It's that whole "ends/means" angle.