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nationally syndicated radio program February 7, 2000 |
"Remember, now, the media says, 'teachers back Al Gore,' and you see the big headlines – teachers for the vice president. But what that story means is, a small group of union bureaucrats and bigshots met in a smoke-filled room and decided, we're going to throw all our money behind Vice President Gore. They didn't ask any teachers what they think, not a single one for all we know."Along comes the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, named after the great Frenchman, and they decide, if we want to know what teachers think, let's ask some actual teachers. And they took a poll – they don't claim that it's a scientific poll – haha, like those other polls are scientific, but they don't even claim that. Tocqueville asked some number of teachers, I think it was a couple of thousand or more – whatever it was, it was more than the NEA bosses asked – what do you teachers think. Are you ready? Here's what they said.
"The leading single candidate is a Republican, Governor George W. Bush of Texas. He polled about 25 percent. In second is John McCain at 14 percent. The top two candidates are not only not Albert Gore Junior, they are from the other party. Next comes Senator Bill Bradley, at 12 percent. Finally you have Vice President Gore at 11 percent, in 1-2-3... fourth place. Then comes John McCain, the other leading Republican. Then you have Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, and Alan Keyes all at somewhere between 2 percent and 5 percent.
"Alexis de Tocqueville – the institution – also asked the teachers if they think their union bosses ought to ask them before they endorse Vice President Gore or any other candidate. Ninety-two percent said yes. The union bosses did not ask them, but the teachers say, we should be asked before you endorse.
"Don't expect to read any of this in the coming year. What you'll read is that teachers are for Vice President Gore, and by implication, everyone who really cares about the public school and our children and American patriotism and apple pie should be for Vice President Gore too. But don't believe it. When you read those stories or you hear them on television and radio, you know that the truth is, five or ten union bosses are for Albert Gore, and a couple million teachers are pretty well evenly split – and maybe even in favor of George Bush or John McCain or the Republican nominee."