and time used up by last November's moratorium."
Fisher: "You use the money to support candidates who are willing to sign specific pledges-as broad-based as possible-not to support aggression in Southeast Asia. All elections are sufficiently close that hard work and money can make a difference. 1972 might seem like a long time away. But in November 1969, 15 months would have seemed like too long yet we would gladly. I think, in retrospect have settled for the war being over now."
"Besides, the antiwar strategy is once again just like the nuclear strategy-if you actually have to fire your bomb, it's done you no good. Hopefully, the effect of such pressure would be felt long before the actual election."
Schelling: "One implication is that this way you pressure incumbents into changing their minds, instead of trying to overcome them with new people, which is much harder."
Fisher: "And you send letters to people after they've changed their minds, as well as before. When Tip O'Neil (Democratic congressman from Cambridge, and early war critic) changed his mind, the effect of every congratulatory letter he got was multiplied because he showed them around."
"The main point." Schelling said. "is that political action has not really been tried, especially by the impatient young. It remains to be proved by college people that they can set big enough goals and be durable enough to have a political effect.
"Young people have been unusually lethargic given their reputed intensity of feeling. Their vehemence comes in short spurts. When you're filled with moral outrage, there's sometimes a danger you want to express yourself rather than get results. A successful antiwar political movement needs to be as cold-blooded as this war is, to remove the 'fun' aspect and make Nixon miserable."
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I.F. Stone Says Military Undertow Is Dragging U.S. Into Deeper War