Randy Langkraehr Weblog

Sunday November 27, 2005

The Quiz

Quote Of The Day - “People whose lives are barren and insecure seem to show a greater willingness to obey than people who are self-sufficient and self-confident. To the frustrated, freedom from responsibility is more attractive than freedom from restraint. They are eager to barter their independence for relief of the burdens of willing, deciding and being responsible for inevitable failure. They willingly abdicate the directing of their lives to those who want to plan, command and shoulder all responsibility." ~Eric Hoffer “The True Believer”

The Advocates have a very popular tool called "The World's Smallest Political Quiz". With ten quick questions you can get a very quick and surprisingly accurate assessment of where they stand politically. You can take it online at my website at http://www.voterandyforchange.com (click on the spinning arrow on the ball diamond), or at the Advocates website direct:http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html. I have given it hundreds of times at fairs and events and when interviewing volunteers and candidates, and over 90% say that it represented their position, and quite a few are surprised to learn they are Libertarian. Despite where they mark off the grids on the test, I tend to consider anyone Libertarian leaning that lands in the upper half of the ball diamond.

Thomas Knapp, a friend and one of the better known Libertarian activists and writers today, http://www.rationalreview.com/ and http://www.knappster.blogspot.com/ to give a few examples, wrote in a message to the MOLP mailing list: "I like the Advocates, you like the Advocates, we all like the Advocates ... but do we have any evidence that this particular tool actually brings in votes, members or other support? Over time, I've come to believe that booth space/activist time may be better used on other things. I'm open to arguments to the contrary, of course. "

I of course had to answer that one. I like a challenge.

"Actually I can name one person. That would be me. It was 1993 and it wasn't exactly the same quiz, but I went on what was called the internet then (long distance to AOL to Kansas City) and did a search for Libertarians. I was actually looking for local Libertarian contacts in Johnson County, because I was trying to get one of my candidates, Glenn Seymour for Sheriff, ballot access, but all they had was a phone number where you could order an info pack (very primitive at that time) which I did. About 2 weeks later they sent a really healthy thick pack of materials, full of booklets, pamphlets, etc. We had already decided to get our candidate on the ballot by petition, and I was busy and really had very little interest in the packet at that point, but kind of gave it a brief sort through, since they had spent postage and been kind enough to go to the trouble and expense of mailing it to me. Amongst the booklets and pamphlets, there was one single sheet of paper in there that was a short quiz. Not exactly the little ball diamond quiz but real similar. Out of curiosity since it was short and quick, I read it and then scored it in my head. To my surprise I fell solidly in the Libertarian range. It was at that point I thought ironically that it was weird because I always thought I was Republican, but apparently I was Libertarian. From that point on, any time asked me what party I belonged to I told them I was Libertarian, just to watch and enjoy the strange look on their face because they really couldn't categorize me. I never did get around to reading anything else in that packet. It sat on the edge of the table for several years (never have been much of a housekeeper) until something got spilled on it or the cat threw up on it or something and it got thrown away. If that quiz had not been in there, I would probably still be under the impression that I was Republican (and extremely mad at Bush at the moment for the Patriot Act). I stayed in that mode for about 9 years until I watched our freedoms dramatically eroding and in October 2002, as I tuned into the debates, wanting to see whether the Republican or Democrat was going to win, I watched Tamara Millay perform brilliantly in the debates and later not even get 2% of the vote, and I decided to do something. I didn't know what, and I didn't know anything about the Libertarian Party itself or how it was set up or how it worked or who to contact, but the Internet was now a lot more advanced, and I knew that I wanted to get involved in politics again, and figured it might as well be bigger than running countywide campaigns, (wanted to run campaigns, not be a candidate), and found my way to the Missouri LP Executive Committee meeting in Jefferson City. That was January, 2003.

So on the strength of that one little quiz, I became a Libertarian and stayed a Libertarian for almost ten years with no other contact or positive reinforcement. (I caught a few minutes of Harry Browne on Phil Donahue once and wasn't overly impressed). Marketing experts say that it takes an average of 7 contacts to make someone buy into a product, so that is powerful. I think the quiz can be a pretty great tool. I have been meeting people everyday that hear that I am a Libertarian candidate and activist, and out of the blue say, "Oh I have been Libertarian for years, and always vote Libertarian". I am going to have to start asking them how they made first contact. There may be a lot of them out there that we have put the seed in their head, and just have to hit that certain trigger that makes them say, Enough is enough!!! I want my country back the way our founding Fathers set it up."
( Nov 27 2005, 03:39:05 AM CST ) Permalink Comments [1]