phill4paul
10-03-2011, 10:15 AM
I was watching Ken Burns "Prohibition" last night and became quite interested in a particular facet of this documentary.
The story of Wayne Bidwell Wheeler and the way that his Anti-Saloon League was able to influence politics. Wheeler believed that if you control the margins, you could create a majority. So if you had 10 percent of the people in a given district, if you could deliver those 10 percent to one candidate or another based on their position on Prohibition, you could win elections, and in fact take over Congress, which he did in the 1916 election.
Of course his was a solid wedge issue of which the Revolution has many.
Your thoughts as I delve into this particularly interesting point in U.S. history?
The story of Wayne Bidwell Wheeler and the way that his Anti-Saloon League was able to influence politics. Wheeler believed that if you control the margins, you could create a majority. So if you had 10 percent of the people in a given district, if you could deliver those 10 percent to one candidate or another based on their position on Prohibition, you could win elections, and in fact take over Congress, which he did in the 1916 election.
Of course his was a solid wedge issue of which the Revolution has many.
Your thoughts as I delve into this particularly interesting point in U.S. history?