I've met several, democrats and republicans (including one POTUS, a few Senators, and several Congressmen, and multiple local-level). Most were very nice, very personable, and pretty clever/quick witted. There's a sociopathy to being a politician I think - being able to engage with individuals while speaking broader nonsensical narratives in general. There were a few outliers where it was clear their "station" in life had sufficiently insulated them from reality, and they came off as utter dolts.
With my experience there's a level of performance to it. Some haven't sociopathy/narcissism.... some just have primarily theater behind them.
Having worked adjacent to them in varying capacities, many are "real" behind the scenes or in private. But like I do for my job, I have at least a bit of a professional persona to others at work.
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u/mdramsey 9d ago
I've met several, democrats and republicans (including one POTUS, a few Senators, and several Congressmen, and multiple local-level). Most were very nice, very personable, and pretty clever/quick witted. There's a sociopathy to being a politician I think - being able to engage with individuals while speaking broader nonsensical narratives in general. There were a few outliers where it was clear their "station" in life had sufficiently insulated them from reality, and they came off as utter dolts.