Post #2473548

Whenever I'm trying figure out whether a friend or a colleague would be a successful candidate for public office, I always find myself coming back to one quality: Can they wrap up a meeting or a phone call quickly while still making all counterparties feel respected and heard? I seriously think that might be the single biggest qualification, at least in U.S. elections. It covers so many situations: talking to constituents, talking to campaign donors (which one will be spending a lot of time doing), talking to journalists, talking to legislative peers... Are you good at getting off the phone and on to the next thing without hurting anyone's feelings? Not to put too fine a point on it, but as you can see some pretty mediocre people regularly get elected here in the United States. Consider running.