The essential difference between a politician and a leader

[burythehatchet]

A politician HIDES his positions in order to increase the likelihood of getting your vote.

A leader EXPRESSES AND OPENLY DISPLAYS his positions are the people willingly support him.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Then FDR is a politician, not a leader.

He hid his views on:

Support for US participation on the World Court in order to get Hearst's backing for the Dem Nomination. Eleanor and a lot of his staff didn't speak to him for a week after that one.
The anti-lynching bill to maintain southern support.
The plight of Jewish refugees in order to maintain the support of nativists and anti-semites inthe US.

There are more.

Governing is about compromise. Some of it isn't pretty.

[jpgray]

2. Kucinich is marginalized and abandoned. Al Gore was lied about until the election was stealable.

Being honest and open with your views gets you slaughtered in this climate.

[burythehatchet]

3. exactly, that's why the leaders have been chased away and replaced

with interchangeable politicians. We need leaders.

[jpgray]

4. We have them. They get crapped on and destroyed at every turn

Until we can change that, true "leaders" would be crazy to run for office.

[hobbit709]

5. The difference between a politician and a statesman

A statesman looks ahead to the next generation, a politician can't see past the next election.

[LWolf]

6. I'll vote for the leader. Every time. n/t

[rucky]

7. One minor adjustment...

a leader LISTENS and gathers facts, processes what they're hearing and seeing, and comes up with the best plan.

Even building a Utopia is a problem-solving exercise and a response to our immediate environments. It doesn't come out of a vacuum.