And this comes with an undertone of "this is so obviously beneficial that you're a fool if you don't do this".

In the way the article is formulated it does come with that undertone. But I don't think you have to have that undertone when you communicate about the subject.

Before you have at least some of that, putting feet into doors and listening to very polite rejections is likely a distraction, and the last thing young movements need are distractions.

If you want to change public policy understanding the way politicians think about the issue is important. Quite many activists make a lot of strategic errors because they haven't invested the effort to understand the positions of various stakeholders.