Reply #22: Yes, and I'd go even further

[Eloriel]

Many of the problems we see in washington, in politics everywhere is precisely due to the fact that the people involved DO NOT take politics "personally." Politics isn't tied up with their value system, like the guy upthread who said he couldn't have a girlfriend who was a Repug. Or the one who talked about changing careers, or the child with a disability, or those of us for whom our political beliefs come out of who we are as human beings, our deepest core values.

The professionals who can change campaigns at a whim, engage in dirty tricks instead of honoring and upholding an already imperfect system, manipulate the process to rig the outcomes, etc. These are where the problems come from -- not from those of us who take politics personally. THEY don't take it personally enough. It's a career, a game, a way to accrue power and influence and little more to these people.