Would you run for political office?

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rocklobster

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With all the stuff that’s been going on because it’s an election year, I was wondering if any of you out there have ever considered running for political office. I don’t think I would for this reason: When you are a politician, your life is no longer private. Any skeletons in your closet become ripe for everyone to see.
What about the rest of you?
 
I ran for Congress in '04 (First District of Arkansas.)

I’ll say this – it’s hard work!
 
And corrupt myself like the rest of them? You’ve got to be kidding.
 
goofyjim said:
And corrupt myself like the rest of them? You’ve got to be kidding.
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What you do is make a deal with yourself – six years and no more, if you win. Go in with a firm committment to accomplish certain things, and don’t be seduced into abandoning those goals, or staying longer than three terms.
 
I ran for the school board once. Won the primary but lost the general election. It was a tough race and a close election because the other slate was highly organized and wanted dramatic changes in school policy. While I lost, others on my ticket prevailed.
 
vern_humphrey said:
What you do is make a deal with yourself – six years and no more, if you win. Go in with a firm committment to accomplish certain things, and don’t be seduced into abandoning those goals, or staying longer than three terms.
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Even in one term you have to butter up the upper echelon so much that you lose all sense of self identity. No thank you. I’d rather just continue being who I am.
 
goofyjim said:
Even in one term you have to butter up the upper echelon so much that you lose all sense of self identity. No thank you. I’d rather just continue being who I am.
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I take it you say that based on personal experience?😉

If good men will not run, then we are doomed to be governed by bad men.
 
I voted no, but I still think about it. It is the one thing as an adult my mom still warns me against doing. After participating in this years primaries I have to say it is a rigged game. I admire those few who have served honorably but those seem to be very few and heavily marginalized as being an idealist in an opportunistic ego driven venue.

I don’t fear it would change me as much as anger me beyond my ability to keep it in check.
 
Perhaps the reason politics is so corrupt is because honest men shy away from running.

Think about it.😉
 
vern_humphrey said:
Perhaps the reason politics is so corrupt is because honest men shy away from running.
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Indeed, it could be said that honest, virtuous men have a duty to be involved in politics. To do otherwise would be to abandon government to the schemers.

Rocklobster’s concern is nothing new. The Roman orator and senator Cicero noted (and lamented) the tendency of good men to prefer a private life, away from the fray of political strife.
 
rocklobster said:
With all the stuff that’s been going on because it’s an election year, I was wondering if any of you out there have ever considered running for political office. I don’t think I would for this reason: When you are a politician, your life is no longer private. Any skeletons in your closet become ripe for everyone to see.
What about the rest of you?
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It’s worse than that, there’s no way you can run for office and keep your self-respect – the system itself guarantees that no one who runs for office is fit to hold it.
 
Dale_M said:
Indeed, it could be said that honest, virtuous men have a duty to be involved in politics. To do otherwise would be to abandon government to the schemers.

Rocklobster’s concern is nothing new. The Roman orator and senator Cicero noted (and lamented) the tendency of good men to prefer a private life, away from the fray of political strife.
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Of course, virtually every one of Cicero’s contemporaries – including Cicero, himself – died a violent death at the hands of his political enemies.
 
vern_humphrey said:
There is a difference – you can imagine a moral politician. But a moral lawyer is an oxymoron.
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Wow, nothing like seeing one’s entire profession slammed, again.

Maybe we should ask ourselves why so many children aspire to be like reckless celebretantes instead of pursuing higher education? Hearing the same stereotypes about lawyers (and doctors to some extent) over and over again has certainly made the years of hard work less attractive than they were to past generations. I seriously doubt if most Americans even know what types of work are done by the vast majority of attorneys or what they really make. (BTW, only about 10 percent of lawyers make the big bucks. I have friends with 4 year degrees and with no degrees who earn far more than most attorneys.)

I get bashed enough for my current profession. I would never enter the political ring in today’s climate of partisan slash and burn tactics even though my life is squeaky clean with no skeletons. I was approached by the GOP to run for the state legislature (not in TX) while I was still in law school. I wish that I had taken that experience back when it could have been a positive one.

The courteous and congenial atmosphere of the past is long gone in politics from the local to the national level. I’m saddened by all of the pundits and commentators who cannot concede that someone to the left or the right of their position might have one decent point in a speech or on an issue. I hate it when they basically shout over the “guests” on their shows. We are a much coarser society in many ways, so public discourse suffers.

We have become very polarized as a nation and it is just sad. I hope that it does not take some group bringing a sustained conflict to our own soil for us to pull together and move forward as a nation.
 
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