Standing Above the Crowd Chapter Summaries and Excerps - Chapter 15: - Politics - A Game of Another Sort

Politicians are like diapers; they both need to be changed often and for the same reason. — Mark Twain

The last thing I ever wanted to be was a “politician,” but the reason I chose to run for a political office was so I could better serve the communities I truly care about.

Up until just a few years ago, if you asked me what I thought about politics, I would have told you, “I can’t stand politics and I can’t stand politicians.” My close friends who know me well still remind me how often I talked like that.

Now, I realize that it wasn’t so much that I really couldn’t stand politics and politicians. It was more that politics seemed so frustrating and so futile at times because of the political process people implement and the political games they play. Try as we may to be nonpartisan, everything we do in life is partisan in nature. Even when we talk about being on a “team,” doesn’t that simply come down to “our team versus their team”? It doesn’t get much more partisan than that.

I found out quickly that politics is a game of another sort. There’s a lot of strategy involved and a lot of “chalkboard sessions” that take place in the strategy “war rooms” or campaign offices that are set up during the campaign. It’s a game where you definitely have to do your homework, be on top of the issues, have a thick skin, be ready for battle each and every day, work as a team, and fight to the bitter end for what you believe will be in the best overall interest of the constituents you represent. It can be “down and dirty” at times, with all the pettiness and name-calling, but as I did in my mayoral campaign in 2009 and as I emphasize throughout this book, you have to Stand Above the Crowd and not let all the little petty things bring you down.

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