...stretching the truth.

I'm thinking that politics is a game. To be played. In cunning and devious ways. To manipulate people. For the sake of gaining power. And celebrity, too. To salve the human ego. I played it for a while. A long time ago. On the local level. Manipulating my way onto the local school board for 3 years. Yes, I probably did it to satisfy my ego. To effect change, too. I'm not sure if I had any genuine higher purpose in mind. I guess I learned something. In the end, I didn't want to compromise myself. I didn't want to sell my soul by playing this game. Seems to me if one really wants to succeed in politics above the local level, one must be driven. One must want power. And adulation. Maybe above everything else. A good politician, I suppose, is calculating. To the point of creating an image. A political self that can win over his/her constituency. Maybe to fool the people. By being clever. Saying the right things in the right places at the right times. A little like a used car salesman. Being affable. Selling people a bill of goods...even if it means stretching the truth. --Jim Broede