Analysis Of Chapter 4: The Statistics Behind Stealth Campaigns

Chapter 4: The Statistics Behind Stealth Campaigns
The battle between Christian Right politicians and anti-Christian Right politicians has been a long one, most distinguishably beginning in the 1920s with the clash between evolutionists and anti-evolutionists (pp. 3). While this issue is still in debate, modern day attention is being drawn to “stealth campaigns” – that is, as paraphrased from page 83 of School Board Battles, Christian Right political candidates’ downplay of their connections to Christian coalitions and exaggeration of their moderate viewpoints to the public, all while organizing voters in conservative churches. The subject is controversial and one of the main topics discussed in Melissa Deckman’s book, School Board Battles.

84) that point to the use of stealth campaigns. The account of each not only puts evidence behind her argument, the reader later discovers that these accounts go against the viewpoint she argues in her conclusion, adding depth to her argument: she states what critics think on the outside, later going into statistical analysis for the rest of the chapter to prove them wrong. Data primarily consists of table charts pulled from a survey and two case studies. The surveys, as outlined in Appendix A of the book, were taken from randomly selected school districts around the nation, and the case studies, also outlined in Appendix A, were from Fairfax County, Virginia, and Garrett County, Maryland, both counties with conservative Christians on the school board (pp. 176). The survey pool selected by Deckman is well rounded; she took into account small vs. large school districts, districts with no elections, candidates who ran unopposed, candidates with incorrect home addresses, and candidates who did not respond to the survey (pp. 176). Each variable was accounted for and the survey was scaled as such, making it a valuable and effective

For example, at the beginning of chapter four, she presents the outline of her argument: as paraphrased from pages 84 and 85, she states she will be comparing Christian Right candidates to non-Christian right candidates, discussing whether or not they were upfront with the issues they cared about, and examining where they got their money from and whether or not they campaigned in churches. Her pause to explain what each topic discusses creates an argument of logical flow. Her descriptions of how she measures things also aid in the chapter’s layout and the reader’s understanding. On page 85, before beginning her investigation of stealth campaigns, she outlines exactly what it would mean to have a stealth campaign and what data she would need to find to prove the possibility of such campaign. This important tool allows the reader to approach the rest of the chapter with knowledge as to what exactly they were looking for, and aids in the movement of the