| become available to the community at large.1 Congressional campaigns present the difficulty of understanding a variegated multicellular structure by analysis of a single cell. More often than not, these personal accounts have become a part of political folklore rather than an addition to scholarly literature. |
| What motivated these men and women to seek high public office when the chances of victory were so remote? What led them to extensive personal and political commitments when for most the yield was certain to be small? What unique problems were encountered during their short tenure as candidates, and how were they resolved? Were these candidates self-starters or were they "recruited" by the officials of their respective parties? What relationships were developed between the challenger candidates and the national, state, or local party organization? What ends were served by these contests: for the candidates, for the party, for the House, for the country? Was it possible that, in the words of Montaigne, there were "some defeats more triumphant than victories"? The congressional elections of 1962 presented a unique opportunity for us to systematically explore some of these questions. |
| After discussing the perplexing problems of the probable con- |
 | | | | 1 A candidate occasionally attempts to explain his campaign, election, or defeat to his constituents through privately circulated statements. His purpose ordinarily is to justify his campaign strategy, inform those who worked in his campaign, or consolidate support for a future effort. Several candidates furnished copies of such personal analyses in 1962. Even so, very few published materials exist. A few candidates have published case studies of their own campaigns, and others have been produced by scholars. Joseph P. Lyford described his campaign for a congressional nomination in the Connecticut Democratic Convention in Candidate (New York: Holt, 1959). Stephen K. Bailey and Howard D. Samuel described the campaigns of three members of Congress in short case studies in 1953 in Congress At Work (New York: Holt, 1953). On Capitol Hill by John Bibby and Roger Davidson (New York: Holt, 1967) contains two brief descriptions of the campaigns of Senator Abraham Ribicoff and Congressman Clark McGregor. John W. Kingdon, in Candidates for Office: Beliefs and Strategies (New York: Random House, 1968), presents much useful information on campaign strategies for a variety of offices in Wisconsin. David A. Leuthold, Electioneering in a Democracy: Campaigns for Congress (New York: Wiley, 1968), is a study of congressional races in the San Francisco area in 1962. Other materials on campaigns from the candidate's perspective are included in Stimson Bullitt, To Be a Politician (New York: Doubleday, 1959), and Clem Miller, Member of the House (New York: Scribner, 1962). On the whole little attention has been paid to political campaigning either by those who have taken part or by scholars who have observed it. |
|
