Actually I do come from a political family. My great-grandfather on my mom’s side and my great-uncle on my dad’s side were both in the Georgia House of Representatives (the former at the turn of the 20th century and the latter in the 1940’s and 50’s). I worked my first political campaign when I was 16 years old (and had worked my way to the point where I was trusted with the key to the campaign office before the election was held). I even picked my major and minor (Journalism/Political Science) with an eye on becoming some candidate’s Media Director.
What happened? Tabloid journalism. Once upon a time, only the candidate himself was scrutinized, and then only became an issue if he did something stupid (or the opposition was really cutthroat). Nowadays, the muckrakers pick apart the candidate, his extended family, and everyone who can be remotely tied to him–from family members to the community dogcatcher. Even people who speak on the candidate’s “behalf” without authorization become the responsibility of the candidate!
No thanks, folks. The price of politics has become too high.
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