Politics? No Thanks

The question posed to me on air this morning was, would you ever make a run for political office? The wise answer is “never say never” but I was quite comfortable in saying “NEVER!”

I don’t trust career politicians, never have, never will. However, I don’t know how some people have the stomach for the mud-slinging and other dirty games that go on in the political world. Not to mention the bullshit, the wasted time and money and the sometimes petty concerns of the electorate. So even though my choice for councillor didn’t win, I have to respect the guy who won because it’s not the kind of job I have the will to take on.

I ran in an election once. Rocky Swift and I opposed each other in our Bible study group back in grade 8. When it came time to count the votes, Rocky couldn’t stand it because he had lost by one. He went around the room and made everybody tell him who they voted for until he realized, to his horror, that he had voted for me…and so had I! He was inconsolable. He whined, “But you’re supposed for vote for ME!” I responded, “Where does it say that? If I think I’m the best candidate, I should vote for myself!” He was horrified and our friendship was never quite the same.

Bible study group didn’t last more than a few weeks. Someone moved away, Rocky couldn’t get over my ‘betrayal’ and I just didn’t have a passion for the subject matter. But the experience proved to me that I would never again run for a public office. It’s not because I found beating my friend distasteful, rather, I enjoyed it a bit too much. This, I thought, is how political power monsters are made.