Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993                   TAG: 9306150170
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD                                LENGTH: Medium

CALL, DON'T WRITE, IF YOU WANT TO TRY TO REACH CLINTON

In fact, you might try calling, instead, because this president gets about four times the mail volume that his predecessors received.

Broderick and his wife, Asta, were among about four dozen Floyd County Democrats who got a brief taste of what it's like to work at the White House. Friday the group responded to a call for volunteers to sort some of the 20,000 pieces of mail the White House gets every day.

"It was a call out of the blue," he said. Two weeks ago, a White House staffer called Floyd Democratic Committee Chairman Nolen Goad asking if he could come up with some volunteers for mailroom duty.

"So, we went for it," said Broderick, a retiree and a committee member. They chartered a bus, filled it with 46 volunteers, ages 9 to 78, and took off for Washington at 3 a.m. Friday.

After clearing a security check, the group went to work in the Old Executive Office Building, next to the White House, sorting letters into stacks according to subject.

"It was very revealing," he said.

Despite Clinton's plummeting in the polls, Broderick said most of the mail was positive, although he did hear about one threatening letter that required special handling. He also saw lots of form letters, which a White House staffer told him they rarely answer.

His wife opened a four-page letter in Japanese. Broderick said letters in a foreign language are translated by the State Department for reply.

When she opened another envelope, some leaves dropped out. Some at first thought it might be marijuana, but it turned out to be catnip for Socks, the White House cat.

Other letters contained cash donations, invitations and a lot of comments about the hot issues of the day, including health care reform, the North American Free Trade Agreement, gay rights and much more.

"I, myself, didn't see any really nasty letters," he said.

Broderick said the White House has a special staff to handle mail from writers who are younger than 16 years old.

When work was done, the group got a tour of the White House. But because it was Friday and the president was in town, the visitors never did see the Oval Office.

"Clinton was in there working, so we couldn't kick him out," Broderick said.