@mrgah I feel like adding scales here to reflect on how -possible- it is.

Most of the candidates in the suburb I live in won with 1,500-2,000 votes. Period. My -high school- had more people than that! The local tier can be -extremely- doable given some skill and determination.

@mrgah I remember American evangelical preachers visiting New Zealand, circa 1990-1993, telling us EXACTLY this. That 'we' (ie: Republicans, but portrayed to churches as The Forces Of Good) had a plan, they were going to 'take back America', and they were going to do it by focusing on local elections 'because the liberals don't care about those'.

I seriously wonder if any of this could have happened without the evangelical churches providing the rank and file cannon-fodder.