But daddy, I think I would make a great politician

A little boy came up to his father one day and said, “Dad I think I want to be a politician.”

Now the father had never heard his 12-year-old son speak of such aspirations so he was a little bemused as well as bewildered.

Now son, why do you think you want to go into politics?”

Well dad, to begin with I think I’m a great communicator and a great listener,” the son said.

And then the son went on to lay out his plan of becoming a great politician. First he would begin his quest by always staying abreast of current events. He would begin reading such magazines like US News and World Report, Businessweek, Newsweek and other periodicals. Next he would set his computer up to where his RSS reader would capture all of the top headlines from the country’s top newspapers. He would read the Wall Street Journal and USA Today every day to learn about the markets and what’s going on in Washington. He even would sit and watch the many news shows like Meet the Press, the Capitol Gang and others.

Dad, I want to be the most well rounded person that I could be,” the little boy said.

The father was just oozing with pride. Here was his own flesh and blood ready to learn at an early age about public service. But he wanted to make sure so his son knew what was in store for him so he started asking a series of questions.

Well son I must admit that is quite a plan you have laid out. But I’m curious. What about high school and college? You do plan on going don’t you?” the father asked.

Oh but of course,” the young lad said. And then he set out his secondary and higher education goals.

Once he left middle school, he was going to attack his high school years as if it were a job. He was going to take part in the debate club and learn oratorical skills necessary to win arguments. He was going to take part in athletics so that he could be well rounded and learn the necessity of teamwork. His goal was to take as many hard classes as he could, pass them and graduate in the top of his class. For college, the boy said he wanted to go to Yale, Princeton, Rutgers or Amherst because “I want people to know that I am a man who learned something in college and that I didn’t waste my parents money”. He laid out a plan of taking classes in political science and business and he said that he wanted to be able to grow his dad’s law practice and become a lawyer just like him.

The father was just overjoyed and started crying. But his tears of joy were also mixed with tears of sorrow.

Son, you have said some wonderful things and I am so proud of you,” the father exclaimed. “Yet my son I fear that you do not realize what lofty goals you have set for yourself for I was just like you at your age.”

The father went on to tell his son how at around the same age he came to his father and said, “Dad I think I want to be a politician”. The father recounted how he himself was just like his son and laid out this grandiose plan of becoming a man of great stature and promise.

Son, I went on to high school and graduated at the top 1% of my class. Because of where your grandparents lived, I was able to go to any college I wanted to go and I chose Yale. I went on to become class president of my class, graduate with a degree in Political Science, go on to law school, graduate there from honors and get hired by a prestigious law firm in New York City.”

The son was elated that he might be following in his dad’s footsteps.

Tell me more dad, tell me more,” the son cried out.

Well son things went very well for many years. I left that law firm to start my own and I met your mother. We were doing quite well. We moved from the city out to the suburbs and I became well known for my many civic duties and volunteer projects. I started running for office because I too thought I could be a better man in helping others and for several years I was the talk of the town; poised to become the next mayor.”

But then the father looked sad and started to tear up.

Dad if you were doing all of this, why are you beginning to cry?” the son asked.

Because son when I decided to run for city council, I was faced with a monster that I had never seen before. I saw hatred,” the father said.

Daddy, what’s hatred? How can that be seen in politics and serving people?” the little boy asked.

Son hatred isn’t just what you perceive happens to you at the playground or in the classroom. Hatred comes in many forms and in politics it breathes and festers quite well.”

The father then went on to tell his son how his opponent began a smear campaign with negative ads and how his opponent brought up things from his past that the father didn’t even think would matter. He brought up the time that he was arrested for shoplifting as a ten-year-old. He brought up the fact that while in college, he and his fraternity brothers stole the rival school’s mascot and hid it for two weeks. He re-told of the day when his opponent made mention that his son’s grandfather was once a bootlegger and ran from the law. He told of how the fact that during the War, he elected to not serve his country in the military because he wanted to go to school but his opponent used it as a way to say that he was unpatriotic and that he was ducking the draft.

Son by the time the campaign was over, your mother and I almost got a divorce, I had a nervous breakdown and my practice was almost gone. It took me years to rebuild the law practice and I swore that I would never let politics invade my family household like it did. I gave up my chance of being on city council because I needed to be a father and husband first. It just wasn’t worth all of the trouble,” the father said.

The little boy looked at his dad and then he went to go sit next to him in a chair.

Dad, were all of those things true that your opponent said?” the little boy inquired.

Son some were the complete truth and then some were the exaggeration of the truth. In politics, your opponent doesn’t care about the truth, only the truth as he spins is.”

But son I don’t want my inability to stand up and fight for my dream to hamper your dream. If you want to become a politician, I think you should aim for that goal and do it. Up until my attempt at city council, I was happy being a small town mayor and I was happy that I could help people here. Maybe my time for big time politics wasn’t meant to be. Maybe you will be able to do things that I couldn’t do,” the father said.

The little boy thought about everything that was said by his father. Could people really be so cruel as his father said? Would people purposely lie on him just to get an advantage or to gain votes? Would he too become so disenchanted by the system that he would be like his father, a man who believes in the system only to a point of interest? The little boy had to know that this was not the case so he told his dad of a plan at school.

Dad, I think I will run for student council at school. Do you think that will help me in my quest?” the little boy asked.

Son I think that is an excellent idea. I will help you make your signs and this could be the first taste of public service for you. It will give you a chance to see if you want to be in that arena or not.”

And so after that great discussion with his father, the following day he went to school and told his counselor that he wanted to run for student council. The counselor put the little boy’s name on the ballot and the other candidates began their campaigns. The little boy made signs promising to help the students get some things they wanted at the school like more clubs and dances. His opponents all fell by the waist side one by one except for this one. A little girl from own the street was the also running for the office and she began to spread rumors and lies about the little boy. Many of the kids who said they would vote for him started to say that they were going to vote for the little girl because they didn’t know this or that about the boy’s family.

As the weeks went by, things really started to heat up in the race. The little boy, remembering what his dad had said about what happened in his campaign, went on the offensive against the little girl. He went onto the Internet and pulled information about the little girl’s parents and he made posters and cards telling of the little family secrets that the little girl had. It got so bad that the little girl abruptly left school and her parents subsequently moved away in the middle of the campaign. Of course when it came time to vote, the little boy won.

When all was said and done, the little boy was happy and he wanted to share his elation with his dad. When he got home, his dad was sitting with his mom and a gentleman in the living room. The adults did not look happy.

Son, will you come here for a moment?” the father asked.

The little boy walked into the living room and sat next to his dad. He looked at the stranger and then realized that it was the little girl’s father.

Son, Mr. Jones came by here to ask why you said all of those mean things in school about his family,” the father said. “He wants to know why you were so mean to his daughter. So I’m asking you, why were you so mean to your opponent during your campaign?”

The son seemed perplexed. He couldn’t understand why the little girl’s father would come to his parents asking for an explanation when his own child started the name-calling.

Dad, I didn’t start it,” the little boy said. “She started telling everyone horrible things about you, mom and myself. She started spreading rumors around school and people were looking at me funny. I was not going to let her talk about my family like that. Everything I said in school about her and Mr. Jones was true. I got it off the Internet.”

The adults were just dumbfounded. Mr. Jones looked at the little boy with glassy eyes and spoke.

My dear boy you have no idea how hurtful your words were. The things you said about me and my family was not true. We never lived where you said we lived. My wife never did those horrible things that you said she did and my little girl never tried to do the things that you claim she did. What you told the school was a pack of lies for us as we are not the Jones that you speak of,” the man said.

And then it hit the little boy. He has falsely accused someone of some vile things because he automatically assumed what he read was true. He had become the very thing his dad had warned him about in political contests. He became a hater of his opponent and attacked the individual and not the issues at hand. At that very moment the little boy understood why his dad had despised running for political office.

While the above story may be false, it does have some ramifications of truth that we all may see at one rime or another. Politics is a dirty business and men of valor, stature and uncommon resolve are often like Mr. Jones or the little boy’s father. When it comes to character and trying to defeat an opponent, the uncommon valor that one may have sometimes gets twisted, shelved or even destroyed as that individual only sees one goal in mind: that elected seat. For the little boy in the story, he forgot about serving the people and he only looked at the elected seat he was after.

How many young men and women who aspire to become public servants through politics begin like the little boy but end up being a shrewd individual who doesn’t care about stepping on people or their interests. With the election coming up, think about the candidates that you are voting for and ask yourself this question: is the candidate truly out to help me and other constituents or is this candidate only looking at the seat he or she wants to be elected in?

Serving in politics is a noble cause and when the right people are in office, the voice of a community is heard. Yet politics is also a messy affair that could damage the plans you have for your own future. Look wise at the candidates you are selecting and judge them for the merits they stand on. What this country needs is the “little boy” in the story who wanted to go out and serve his community with pride and honor, not the little boy that stopped at nothing to get the seat that he wanted.