There is a great deal of romance in politics. Why else would we spend $170 million on an inauguration? H.L. Mencken had a more sober view of political animals. They are rarely chosen for their merit, or their stances on the issues of the day. The successful candidate actively avoids such things in his speeches. No:
“They are chosen normally for quite different reasons, the chief of which is simply their power to impress and enchant the intellectually underprivileged. It is a talent like any other… [B]ut it is obviously not identical with a capacity for the intricate problems of statecraft.”A Mencken Chrestomathy, pp. 148-49.
Inertia Wins! 