If politicians feared that for every election, significant quantities of Mars society enthusiasts would vote according to a list of which candidates Dr. Zubrin's Society deems to be more Pro-Mars, then Dr. Zubrin would get more of an audience. Until then, I think you might be amazed at how two-faced most if not nearly all D.C. area politicians are once they no longer need someone as much. This is especially the case in the senate, as senators' elections transpire only once every 6 years. How often do you actually see or get meaningful access to them AFTER their elections? Incumbents are so hard to oust that a legal reform seems necessary if we are to actually start having suspenseful elections and consequently more attentive federal (if not local) politicians.

The best, most readily attainable reform seems to be: Modify the following prerequisite for getting guaranteed access to participate in the televised political debates, so that the third leading candidate in the polls gets to participate REGARDLESS of whether or not (s)he ALREADY has 15% of the support:

http://www.debates.org/pages/candsel.html

“requires that the candidate have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations’ most recent publicly reported results at the time of the determination.”

If it only took about 35% of the popular vote to win an election (as is the case in many other advanced democracies which ALREADY have at least 3 strong political parties), then Dr. Zubrin's voting block would be more coveted and feared.

Do you think Washington D.C.'s politicians currently deserve Dr. Zubrin's supportiveness? Do they support him in exchange for his previously delivered support? How many tax-subsidized, pork-loving beltway bandits (i.e. congressional reps) have even remotely championed Dr. Zubrin's idea of Mars prizes that would incentivize the best Mars-oriented companies instead of merely Lockheed Martin and its pet subcontractors? The Mars prizes ideas are analyzed in considerable detail in Dr. Zubrin's book The Case for Mars, and yet Lockheed Martin still has its finger in practically every Mars-related contract. After all these years, who can blame Dr. Zubrin for wanting them to cease taking him for granted as much?

Campaign finance reform's now finally a reality and Lockheed's influence is going to fade like Boeing's recently began to. Nevertheless, it will take catalysts to sway things in Mars entrepreneurs' direction. Dr. Zubrin has the potential to be that catalyst. I think, though, that he needs to be more feared just like other lobbies. How many politicians speak out against our social security program? Nobody wants to endure the wrath of the AARP. Politics in D.C. are rather Machiavellian. At least that's the opinion of this D.C.-area attorney.

Happy 2004 to all...