Recently, I've searched newspaper archives in my library and found an
editorial dating back to July/1976,
shortly after the successful Viking landing and surface imaging.

The gist of the cynical editorial
went like this [not totally verbatim]:
"...The Viking lander has returned
images from the surface of Mars which,
like those returned by Apollo astronauts
from the moon, show...rocks.
Lotsa and lotsa rocks. Rocks as far as you can see. Big ones. Small ones.
rounded ones, jagged ones.
That's all we need [the editor's sarcasm], another world covered with rocks..."

Obviously, that newspaper editor
was not impressed by the photographs of
what to him were superficially ordinary appearing rocks strewn about.
[I'm going to remain rhetorically neutral here!]

Obviously, millions of American taxpayers hold similar views that can
be summerized by this their opinion, derived into the following question: "Why should billions of our hard-earned money be spent to send back images of worlds covered with...lots of ordinary looking rocks?
If we want to examine rocks, there are plenty of rocks in our backyards?"
THESE ARE NOT MY VIEWS, BY THE WAY.

OK!~ Your challenge is...to POLITELY try to persuade them
to change that opinion of theirs.
Are you up to the challenge?
What would you says to them? Where would you say it, to try and reach
them?

cheers.

Jacob