NOW IS THE TIME FOR POLITICAL EDUCATION

By Vincent A. Drosdik III

From Human Events February 26, 1977

 

   Conservatives can’t wait until an election campaign to “educate the public.”  The time for political education is now not later.

   That’s sometimes the bitter lesson I learned as press secretary for one of the many Republican congressional candidates who didn’t make it last November.  We simply cannot count on the effectiveness of campaign-time lectures to give lessons in economics, foreign policy and the philosophy of limited government.

   Let’s say you’re in a district with an incumbent liberal Democrat.  No matter how long he’s been in office, it’s obvious the “we” need to “educate the voters” in order to win.  That is, teach basic economics and conservative principles in speeches, news releases, position papers, etc.; then tell the voters where our opponent really stands on the issues and that our candidate is really what they want.

   Do that from Day One of your campaign for seven months or so, and you’re sure to win, right?

   Wrong.

The emotional heat of the political race is the last place where you want to preach the conservative gospel and make converts.  Most individuals attending candidate’s nights, rallies and other political gathering tend to be well-informed, politically aware “good citizens” voters who thus probably have already made up their minds.

     We give the electorate in general too much credit for voting based on ideas, philosophies, issues,  and records.  Habit, misplaced loyalties, personality, and too many other unknown and irrational factors come into play.

   Only once in a while will positions and platforms carry the day.  Then, however, it seems to be the result not of educational campaigns, conducted by the candidates, but rather of prior spadework done by non-partisan educational organizations.

   A case in point:  in 1972, American party presidential candidate John Schmitz got his highest percentage in Idaho, garnering a tenth of the vote.  Not coincidentally, Idaho has the greatest per capita number of members and chapters of the John Birch Society, to which Schmitz belonged.  Idaho’s conservative Republican Congressman, Steve Symms, was elected that year.  The election results simply reflected the efforts not of a few months of overt partisan politics but of a few years of lower profile, more substantial grassroots educational activity.

   Another solid reason why political campaigns are not efficient means of educating the public is perhaps most crucial.  Some studies have indicated that once political races start rolling and media coverage intensifies—usually just after Labor Day—an invisible screen is raised by television viewers and newspaper readers in an almost conscious shielding against attempts by the politicians to change minds, modify beliefs and get votes.

   You certainly can’t blame people for this natural defensive reaction.  A good thing, too, considering most of the political garbage strewn is almost as wisdom.

    The goal of trying to “reach the public” is especially popular in minor parties.  They aren’t going to win, so their only reason d’etre is to educate the public—so they think.  However, if anything, most third party efforts must fail miserably at even this goal: lack of funds and/or workers, and scanty media message extremely difficult.

   Minor parties also tend to be regarded often justifiably, as fringe or kooky.  Voters more readily see that these ideological groups have an ax to grind, and raise even higher that invisible shield.  Add in guilt by association with all those other crooks running for office, and you have to wonder who’d be so naïve about using partisan politics to educate the public.

   That the task must be accomplished cannot be denied.  The questions are: When?  How?  By whom?  For whom?

   When? Obviously not in the political campaigns, especially the last three months before the election.  There are all those factors listed above going against you, and besides, there are too many more important technical jobs to accomplish in that time.  That leaves, in most states, about a year and a half between election day and the beginning of the next race.

   How?  Efforts must be made via regular public meetings, speakers’ bureaus, study groups, letters to the editor, editorial replies on television and radio, newspaper columns, alternative newspapers or newsletters, distribution of literature, and selling subscriptions to conservative periodicals such as HUMAN EVENTS.

    By whom?  This must be a grassroots effort; all successful long-term movements start from the bottom up.  That means all of us must enter the fray.  There’s no specialization of labor or passing the buck here.  Freedom is everybody’s business.

   Finally, for whom?  Having dealt so much with the issues, and met as many supposedly politically aware individuals as I did last fall, I realized that it wasn’t “them out there” who need (and are able to absorb) political education.

 

“EDUCATION OF THE VOTER IS NOT IN THE HEAT OF A CAMPAIGN, BUT A YEAR AROUND PROCESS AT THE GRASSROOTS LEVEL.”