well, if you believe Aristotle the polis is the great creation of
mankind, the whole point of civilization. At its best, politics is the
art of compromise and negotiation necessary to get things done in a
civil society. It has a bad rap because people associate it with
factionalism, favoritism, and an old-cronyism that preclude merit as
the basis of success. Certainly it can be that, but the skill it takes
to work with others who are very different from oneself in order to
accomplish a shared goal is also politics. There is not one effective
ruler in history who was not also good at politics. That said, I
believe in rewarding merit, in avoiding factions, in setting an
example that is free of favoritism or partiality. I do believe
strongly in principles, that there are lines that cannot be crossed no
matter what the political pressure (see the "pay for play"
question). However, ideologues are not usually helpful to building the
consensus necessary to getting things done for the common good, and I
generally avoid extremist positions.
