Smell Sembler always had his game down. He married the daughter of a successfull clothing salesman, went to work for his father in law and then expanded the family business into shopping centers. (next time you breeze through some once beautiful and personal small town that's been deleted to make way for another generic strip mall...)
Straight, Inc., like The Seed before it, consentrated on recruiting strategic pillars of their communities. They had to have the cooperation of law enforcement, juvenile judiciary and school system so they made sure to make contacts in those positions. They also like to have a doctor, dentist and nurse so that when kids absolutely had to have some kind of minimal professional medical attention, they could provide it without letting the kid gain access to anyone outside the cult.
If you search through political contribution reports, you'll find the Sembler name and other program affiliated names as consistently generous contributors to pacs and politicians who favor their abstinance freak philosophy. Do the same in Utah and D.C. with WWASP personalities. I don't know if or how many common ties you'll find. But I'd bet good money you'll find some interesting connections.
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys
--P.J. O'Rourke
