IN PRAISE OF POLITICIANS —
IN PRAISE OF POLITICIANS — AND PUNDITS: As a political scientist, I assume that politicians will act in a opportunistic fashion in order to get elected. However, my own DC experience confirms something that Brad Delong says here is 99% correct [Only 99%?–ed. I’m sorry, I just can’t put Al Sharpton into this category]: “But ...
IN PRAISE OF POLITICIANS -- AND PUNDITS: As a political scientist, I assume that politicians will act in a opportunistic fashion in order to get elected. However, my own DC experience confirms something that Brad Delong says here is 99% correct [Only 99%?--ed. I'm sorry, I just can't put Al Sharpton into this category]: "But everybody who goes into politics for real--who runs for the Congress, or takes a senior job in the Executive Branch--is a patriot. There are other careers one can enter with a much higher probability of success that promise more in the way of fame, wealth, and the absence of boredom. Only a deep love-of-country can make someone become an Assistant Secretary of HHS or a Director of OIRA or a Representative from the area around Knoxville. Nobody enters politics seeking to make their country poorer, weaker, and more miserable. Only patriots enter American politics." P.S.: If you read the DeLong post, it's clear that he thinks pundits are a different breed: for Mickey Kaus, "policies are not real, but just a game, epater le liberaloisie and all that..." C'mon Brad, that's not fair. The probability of being a successful pundit is pretty low as well. Only a slightly lower percentage of policy analysts, pundits, and commentators go into it for fame or treasure. [What about blogs?--ed. Oh, yes, a successful blogger earns... there's just no dignified way to end that sentence.] And no one who reads Kaus can believe that he doesn't genuinely care about substantive issues, like welfare reform.
IN PRAISE OF POLITICIANS — AND PUNDITS: As a political scientist, I assume that politicians will act in a opportunistic fashion in order to get elected. However, my own DC experience confirms something that Brad Delong says here is 99% correct [Only 99%?–ed. I’m sorry, I just can’t put Al Sharpton into this category]: “But everybody who goes into politics for real–who runs for the Congress, or takes a senior job in the Executive Branch–is a patriot. There are other careers one can enter with a much higher probability of success that promise more in the way of fame, wealth, and the absence of boredom. Only a deep love-of-country can make someone become an Assistant Secretary of HHS or a Director of OIRA or a Representative from the area around Knoxville. Nobody enters politics seeking to make their country poorer, weaker, and more miserable. Only patriots enter American politics.” P.S.: If you read the DeLong post, it’s clear that he thinks pundits are a different breed: for Mickey Kaus, “policies are not real, but just a game, epater le liberaloisie and all that…” C’mon Brad, that’s not fair. The probability of being a successful pundit is pretty low as well. Only a slightly lower percentage of policy analysts, pundits, and commentators go into it for fame or treasure. [What about blogs?–ed. Oh, yes, a successful blogger earns… there’s just no dignified way to end that sentence.] And no one who reads Kaus can believe that he doesn’t genuinely care about substantive issues, like welfare reform.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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