Politics and government are incredibly gratifying when you can work on issues ranging from civil rights; age discrimination; housing; education; helping the poor; providing health care or Social Security; and ameliorating natural disasters to creating a strong military to defend the U.S. and lead the world. Those and so many more are all gratifying purposes for public service. That should be our response the next time someone disparages your local elected official who had the courage to run for office when most don't.
Robert Weiner is a former spokesman for the Clinton White House and House Government Operations Committee and a former member of senior staff for Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Reps. John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Claude Pepper, Ed Koch, and Sen. Ted Kennedy. Ben Lasky is a senior policy analyst at Solutions for Change.
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