Political Conversion

Lexington Studies in Political Communication

Series Editor: Robert E. Denton, Jr., Virginia Tech University


This series encourages focused work examining the role and function of communication in the realm of politics including campaigns and elections, media, and political institutions.

Recent Titles in the Series

Political Conversion: Personal Transformation as Strategic Public Communication
By Don Waisanen


The 2016 American Presidential Campaign and the News: Implications for the American Republic and Democracy
Edited by Jim A. Kuypers


A Rhetoric of Divisive Partisanship: The 2016 American Presidential Campaign Discourse of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump
By Colleen Elizabeth Kelley


Studies of Communication in the 2016 Presidential Campaign
Edited by Robert E. Denton, Jr.


The Monstrous Discourse in the Donald Trump Campaign: Implications for National Discourse
By Debbie Jay Williams and Kalyn L. Prince


The Political Blame Game in American Democracy
Edited by Larry Powell and Mark Hickson


Political Campaign Communication: Theory, Method, and Practice
Edited by Robert E. Denton, Jr.


Still Paving the Way for Madam President, Revised Edition
By Nichola D. Gutgold


James Farmer Jr.: The Great Debater
By Ben Voth

Political Conversion

Personal Transformation as Strategic Public Communication

Don Waisanen





Published by Lexington Books

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Copyright © 2018 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.


All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.


British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available


Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Names: Waisanen, Don, author.

Title: Political conversion : personal transformation as strategic public communication / by Don Waisanen.

Description: Lanham, Maryland : Lexington Books, [2018] | Series: Lexington studies in political communication | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018007527 (print) | LCCN 2018014910 (ebook) | ISBN 9781498575737 (Electronic) | ISBN 9781498575720 (cloth : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Communication in politics--United States. | Religion and politics--United States. | Conversion. | Chambers, Whittaker. Witness. | Podhoretz, Norman. Breaking ranks. | Horowitz, David, 1939- Radical son. | Wills, Garry, 1934- Confessions of a conservative.

Classification: LCC JA85.2.U6 (ebook) | LCC JA85.2.U6 W35 2018 (print) | DDC 320.97301/4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007527


TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.


Printed in the United States of America

This project was supported by a Eugene M. Lang Fellowship and a
Professional Staff Congress grant from the City University of New York