Why do government haters want to be in government?

[Proud Liberal Dem]

One of the great mysteries about people like Bush et. al that I have never been able to figure out is if they truly hate/despise government as much as they claim to and actually run for elected office ON their firm belief that government can't do anything good and is described by them as "the problem and not the solution", then why in the world do they want to be PART of it so bad? The only answer that I have been able to come up with based on the last 6 years of Bush is that people like him see being in government as a way (perhaps the only way) to destroy government (from within the "belly of the beast" so to speak) or to dismantle it enough so that, as Grover Norquist once eloquently put it, it can be "drowned in a bathtub". It seems as though, either through design or gross incompetence (or maybe a combination of both), that our once respectable federal agencies have become infested by people whom are either grossly unqualified to manage the responsibilities that they've been given (i.e. "Brownie") or were specifically chosen in order to help cripple/neutralize agencies whom have oversight over their own (or their cronies') corporate and/or ideological interests. Either way, the net result will likely be to completely obliterate people's belief and trust in the ability of our government to accomplish anything positive or productive for its citizens or even function like it's supposed to. Unfortunately, it already seems like, since the 1980s, a lot of people have already bought into the insidious belief that government can't do much, if anything right other than perhaps send out Social Security checks but even that is now under siege by Bush et. al. They weren't successful (Thank God) in 2005 with their efforts to privatize Social Security but such attempts will almost certainly continue, particularly under another GOP President. My big question for government-hating politicians is, what happens when the whole foundation ultimately falls apart (and them along with it)?

[porphyrian]

1. They don't hate power and money, both of which they can gorge themselves on...

...while in positions of power in government.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

2. True enough

Although, another question that I have is, why do VOTERS (i.e. in "Red States") seem to want people who emphatically hate government to represent them, ironically, IN government? What are they getting out of it? I'm not talking about people with clear corporate and/or ideological interests but rather your "average joe". Do people really want people who despise government to run it or do they simply not grasp the implications thereof?

[unpossibles]

3. They don't hate government at all, or at least power, as long as they're in charge

I just posted something similar here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3451524&mesg_id=3451567

But to add to that, they're using fear of government in their voters to get elected. They increase the power and spending of government every time, so obviously they're lying, but they can use their constituents' ignorance, mistrust, greed, racism, and fear to their advantage.

[The2ndWheel]

4. It's the power of the state that they crave

To be in a position of power in government is to have power over millions of people at one time. There is no such things as "mall government", there really can't be. To do anything in government requires everyone being part of it. Not that everyone has a say(fairly impossible in a country of 300 million people), but everyone needs to get behind it(voluntarily or by force).

"government-hating politicians"

Can such a category exist?

Government must always grow, must always expand. Whether it's healthcare, education, war, or spying, it has to grow. There is no politician that "hates" government. They may not like this or that aspect of it, but for their own priorities to be considered and funded, they require what they don't like to be considered and funded at the same time. All in an effort toward greater predictability, and greater standardization, and greater efficiency.

[ChicagoRonin]

5. I dunno

Why is that there are people who brand themselves "Pro-Life" who support the Death Penalty and the right to carry guns?