Someone on Quora asked:  Is power the only thing that matters in politics?
My answer:

Different things Matter to Different People

Nothing matters in itself. Different things matter to people. And people bring those concerns to politics.

For any given person, what matters? Some want power- they want to be the representative or the president. But what really matters is, Why?

Some people REALLY want to serve, to make a difference, and they think they can do it best if they have power.

Some people REALLY want their way about something- make government smaller, take care of the poor, stop an injustice – whether they think the injustice is the imposition of taxes are they think it’s inequity.

Some people REALLY want to make someone else wrong. They want to get back at all those so-and-so’s who did such-and-such.

Some people REALLY want to feel safe, whether it’s safe from hand-guns or safe from burglars or safe from Islam.

And some people have these concerns for a few minutes as they drive home from a job. Others have them while they work in politics, on campaigns, in movements, on PR. Others have them while they campaign for office, or while they sit in office.

To many people, cooperation matters. To many, fairness and fair play matter. Often though, it seems like politicians just want to get elected. Often is seems they’ll do anything, that the ends justify the means, any means. Often it seems the ends justify immorality, such as lying or falsifying vote counts.

Different things Matter to Different People, not just Power

So lots and lots and lots of other things matter in politics. And different things matter to different people

And “power” is very ill-defined. Clinton wanted the power of the presidency. But as president, he didn’t lead us to war against the Taliban because he lacked the power of “political capital”, support from the people. “Power” is often something that’s not real, but felt, as confidence. And it’s something we say is present when someone causes people to act.

In America, the Constitution says The People have the ultimate power. But we can’t use it, so the wealthy and the parties wield it instead.

In about 3 months we, The People, will be able to start using it. Listen for it. Add your name to our announcement list.