NationStates Jolt Archive

How often do politicians truly make personal choices, they seem to be the same as celebrity and are solely on marketing an "image", an image supported by dozens of staff.

I was reading the staff of most politicians and they have legislative specialists for each major topic such as health, and defense. They have political advisors, and they meet with lobbyists all day. They even have speech writers, who work with the advisors, so they can sound perfect to their image.

From reading books most politicians personally seem to spend their time worrying about social standing, and trying to get elected again so they can stay career politicians.

Between being influenced by lobbyists, advisor's opinions, and attending social events, and worrying about their personal lifestyles do they truly let their personal ethics or beliefs guide anything? They hear expert testimony in Congressional hearings, but do they really care? Do they research anything for themselves?

Well, first of all, choosing the right advisors and then deciding which ones to listen to is a big part of leadership at the upper levels - so there are personal choices involved there, no matter how you slice it. Image is important to politicians, but the good ones will generally side with principle and do damage control later, or at least compromise a bit here and there to build consensus. :p

Well, first of all, choosing the right advisors and then deciding which ones to listen to is a big part of leadership at the upper levels - so there are personal choices involved there, no matter how you slice it. Image is important to politicians, but the good ones will generally side with principle and do damage control later, or at least compromise a bit here and there to build consensus. :p

And a good number of those advisors have helped them to that seat. It gets better lower down - city leaders often try to improve just ONE aspect of infrastructure to try to prove that he/she is improving the community.

Case in point: The mayor of the city my company is constructing a grade seperation in wants us to move it along for his reelection, but is unwilling to force a stereo equipment store owner (who alleges that he's making $1mil a year, and thus he doesn't want to shut down... :rolleyes:) to shut down his store for a couple of months to allow the project to continue.