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The best? I don't know, there have been many good people in public service, but I have not done a comparison with other professions, so I certainly cannot swear they are "the best". On the other hand, I suppose it depends on one's criteria. Politics, like athletics, is a pretty specialized field. A good athlete must have a certain degree of discipline and character, but he is not necessarily a saint. Indeed, the competitive drive involved may preclude that. But not only that, rarely is someone great in one sport great in another, and rarely do people transfer positions really well. A great quarterback is not likely to become a great end; a great outfielder is not likely to make it as a pitcher. In other words, "the best" is not an abstraction, but tends to be defined by the field they are in: Newt Gingrich might be a mediocre college professor, and he might be ill- suited to business, but he is a great politician, for example. I don't want the most intelligent people in politics, they should be scholars and advisors; I don't want the most decent people in politics, they should be in the churches and charitable institutions and so on; I don't want the most perceptive in politics, I want them as writers and artists; I don't want the most accomplished in politics, I want them among the professoriate, or leading learned societies, or running museums, etc. I want those with the right instincts and the requisite ambition, the stamina and the drive, a certain astuteness and flair for dealing with people, and so on, as politicians..... |
