politics

[alonewiththemoon]

Is there a currently active politician that you can point to and say without reservation "there is a good human being?" Local or national, doesn't matter.

I ask because I've been feeling very let down by all the meanspiritedness out there on all sides, and wishing I could vote for someone I believed in or who I at least trusted to speak honestly, even if I didn't always agree with them 100 percent. I guess I felt like that when I voted for Carol Mosely Braun way back in the late 80s for state senator in Illinois, but her later financial scandals put a damper on it (I did vote for her in the primaries out of a sense of nostalgia--but also because I thought she was making a lot of sense and I could use my vote to send a message about what a percentage of voters want out of a candidate. Or at least that's how it works in my little dream world). It would be nice to know if anybody associates anything positive with politicians anymore.

Comments

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

I don't think about this much, but here's my gut reaction: I don't really care if the politician is a good person. I don't think elected officials should earn their positions through good behavior, as long as they stay technically legal. They should have whatever skills it takes to get the job done (charisma, intelligence, brute political power, whatever), and they should remain loyal to their constituents. They should put the tasks first and their personal gain second. They should have a firm grasp of the English language.

I don't know if "they" exist!

[alonewiththemoon]

the qualities you list are really what I meant by their being a good person--an honorable politician, I guess, though that seems to be an oxymoron these days.

[lepidosiren.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I don't care if they're occasionally a sneaky, amoral little reptile, if it furthers a fair cause -- that's the thing.

[ayun.livejournal.com]

Have you read much about Barack Obama? Not being a registered voter in IL anymore, I don't pay too much attention to politics there, but he's starting to get a national level of prominence and there aren't many people saying bad things about him besides Alan Keyes.

I tend to believe that the very act of seeking and holding political office necessarily corrupts anybody who attempts it, so a moral or honest politician is a bit of a contradiction in terms. I'm cynical enough to think that's a reasonable opinion.

[alonewiththemoon]

That's true, there is Barack Obama. All I really know about him is what came up in convention coverage (though there was a fairly indepth piece in Salon), but he does seem like a straightforward politician.

I'm cynical enough to believe that you are reasonable to be cynical.

[julishka.livejournal.com]

after watching him speak at the convention, i was ready to cast my vote for him for president. i was floored. hope he holds up to the pressures of the national spotlight over the next few years.

[nepenthedreams]

James Marzilli

[alonewiththemoon]

He does seem to be a good one--actually now that I think of it, I've been generally proud of our Arlington state reps. They seem to serve honestly and do unpopular things when they are the right thing to do.

[pyrric.livejournal.com]

RIP Paul Wellstone. :(