University of Virginia Library

15 Dunderheads

More than two years ago, James
Reston told my college graduating
class: "It would not be too difficult
to identify 15 of the worst dunderheads
on Capitol Hill"—and for
students to defeat them.

Today most of the dunderheads
are still there.

Last spring it appeared that
students were aware that there were
two elective branches of the federal
government and that they were at
last ready to do something about
the dunderheads.

But not so.

And why? Why the malaise?

Perhaps there are two reasons:

One, foolishness, Strangely
enough, most college students'
knowledge of the craft of winning
elections ranges from slightly
uninformed to the profoundly
ignorant. All too often they have
exaggerated both the case and the
difficulty of winning an election; in
neither case have they known either
the obstacles confronting them or
the techniques for overcoming
them.