Does anyone believe that politicians are honest?

Question

Really. I honestly want to know. I don't know of anyone, but there must be someone. And if so, are you intelligent and perceptive? Can you prove it?

And for those of you who want to answer this who DON'T believe that politicians are honest, then why are you trusting them to make major decisions which impact your life?

Answer 1

Why should anyone with any hindsight trust a political figure ?
On one election I voted for Bugs Bunny....it seemed to be a good enough statement at the time. There was no one better to vote for on that ballot. I only vote when I like the Presidential candidate...so I have voted twice. Once for Clinton...and once for the dude (fellow Tennessean) who lost to bush, ummm Al Gore. That moran bush, does not deserve a capitol B, so that was no mistake, no respect for that cold fish... what a loser. Can't even speak the (English) language and he was born here.

Whos to trust so far a presidents go? by the time they reach those heights they have been pretty thoroughly corrupted. There are still some good people in small places though. I have a paralegal degree myself.

Maybe Ralph Nader would be cool if people would give him a fighting chance, too bad he ruins it for other candidates who deserve to win (like Gore). At least he really cares about the pretty ball that we inhabit. So did Vice President Gore. The people who give a damn about the environment can't seem to get into office. I can't figure out how the American mindset works!

Can they be trusted...sure, to get us in deeper trouble every single term.

Answer 2

Hell no. A politician that is honest is like a lawyer who doesn't lie. It just doesn't happen, and if it did, you wouldn't trust them anyway. I am just barely old enough to vote,19, and I really wish that I was old enough to vote in the presidential election of 2004, but hey, there is always 2008, then I will be a voter who is allowed to drink (21). Plus there are local government elections, and other elections between the presidential election that I can vote in and use my influence to get the right-wrong person in to office, or is it the wrong-right person? Politicians are liars. Politicians deceive. That is how they get into office. That is why the only thing you can do if you accidentally vote a snake in to office is to vote in the next election. You can't trust any politician to do all of what they say that they are going to do, but the only thing that we can do as voters is to ensure that we will vote someone who will at least follow through on their promises.

Answer 3

Why would anyone believe that politicians are honest? No one is honest all of the time anyway, so perfect honesty is a pretty high standard.

Assuming you are not talking in absolutes though, why should politicians be honest? It's not in their best interests to be. Who wants to vote for the person telling you to get rid of your car and take mass transit, or to become more self-reliant to the degree that you can. That's not what we (the average consumer/voter) want to hear. We want to hear that we can have it all and that smart people will fix things so that we can do whatever we deem to be in our own self-interest.

The politicians have limited sway over how you live your life. They can determine how much you pay for where you live and what services you receive, but if that's all you're seeing then you're missing the bigger picture. They only have whatever power you let them have.

I saw a nice bumper sticker on my walk to work: "Ignore your rights and they will go away" Don't blame the politicians if you are abdicating your life and your happiness to them.

Answer 4

who said we all trusted them? A politician is elected my a majority vote, but all the ones who voted for other candidates do not necessarily trust the elected politician. (I have a 0% trust of the current president as you can see) We have to live with it though because a majority of people voted for him (how in the world did that happen?)

Power and money corrupt people. Sometimes when the politician is elected, they are really honest, but with time they accept bribes and become dishonest and make decisions in favor of the people who paid them or put them into power.

Answer 5

I am a small city councillor, and am lucky to be in a position where I can honestly do my best to represent the people who live here. This is not a high paid position, so I did not have to compromise myself to win the election. Unfotunately I see that to advance the political structure many have to deal with developers etc. to finance their campaigns. I believe that at the grass-roots level most of us try to make our governments betterHave I made mistakes? Probably, but they were done by trying to base the decisions honestly, openly, and intelligently, and with thinking first of the good of the whole...

Answer 6

Yes, most are. However, they're skilled negotiators.
They trade unimportant things for important things.
You have to be very clear about what you REALLY want, and
show that it's in the public interest, or in the interest of
a large group, and also not harmful to the politicians' personal interests. Most people aren't clear, or don't understand the public interest, or don't research the politician's private interests.
All of which is rude, by the way, even in normal conversation.

Answer 7

Yes. I believe one is. His name is Ron Paul. He's the closest thing to an honest politican you'll find in the federal government. Any Republican that is despised by the leadership of the Republican party or Democrat that is despised by the Democrat party is probably an honest politican. Keep that in mind when you're looking for someone to vote for.

Most third party candidates lose because they intend to do exactly that which they say they will if elected.

Answer 8

No no no no NO! None of them are honest because they only ran for office for one reason: They need a job, and the taxpayers are always paying the salary.

I don't trust them to make even halfway-decent decisions. But since I can't march into Congress's chambers and make laws that suit me and my family, then the politicians are the ones who have to make those laws.

Answer 9

i dont think its a matter of being honest or not, because no politician is honest in the traditional sense. The fact is, to be successful in politics you have to make concessions (basically sell out)... an honest politician could never get elected

Answer 10

I think many of the younger ones start out eager and full of idealism, but eventually they become bloated, sleazy bureaucrats with one hand in their pocket and the other in the government's purse. So, yes, there has to be at least a few honest politicians, otherwise we would have nothing to contrast the dishonest ones to.