Dick Clark: Introduction to Libertarianism

[...]

On the night following Dr. Long’s speech, and the second day of outreach, the real campaign event took place. John Sophocleus spoke to an audience of thirty. As the first official campaign event for which I was responsible, I was proud of the turnout. I had been working on media mailing lists, ideas for the website, and other sundry tasks, but this was the first event where I saw smiling faces that I had persuaded to find out more about John Sophocleus. That evening, I realized that Paul had been right in his methods of attracting people to the event. His methods are simple. First, get the potential listener’s attention with a one-line pick-up. You make eye contact. You approach them casually. You cannot be too aggressive, but you must be firm. You act as though you are selling something, but of course you would never admit it.

The individual will do one of three things. He might try and ignore you, refusing eye contact and brusquely stepping away. He might excuse himself by claiming that he is late for class, all the while shuffling by and looking down. The third and final individual, the listener, will stop, perhaps giving a false start or two away from you, and then concede defeat. He follows you to the table, you hand him a clipboard and pen, and the encounter takes shape. Henceforth, the encounter is run almost automatically by the repetitive performances ingrained in your mind. You have learned to direct him to the first question, so as to ease his confusion. You stand near by, your presence discouraging him from walking away without your approval. He finishes the ten questions, and hesitantly looks around, unsure of what to expect. You quickly herd him over to the chart, glancing at his quiz to determine where to place his sticker. You explain the chart, describing how the political spectrum is usually mischaracterized by the media as being from left to right. You complain that the media generalization is too simplistic. Now you have set the stage for the placement of your listener on the chart. Chances are, he is not a libertarian. Four out of five are authoritarian, conservative, liberal, or centrist.

Source:
Dick Clark: Introduction to Libertarianism
independentpoliticalreport.com