PLAN No. 635. A LIVING OUT OF POLITICS
A great number of men and women in your community and state are making their living entirely on politics.
If you are to choose this work for a living, it is necessary to bear in mind that you must be an adherent of some particular party and you must be enthusiastic for it from beginning to end, as leaving this party will be considered a breach of good faith on your part, and you will lose much of your friendship, which is essential to keep you in your position. Also bear in mind, you who hold positions in political work, that your previous work has a great deal to do with it. That is, you must serve as an assistant, say, in the clerk’s office, the treasurer’s office, the assessor’s office, and in this way you will acquire thousands of friends. And then, the newspaper must not be lost sight of, as a person may have thousands of friends in his community, and if for some reason or other he has awakened the antagonism of the newspaper men, he will find that it is one of his greatest difficulties, and may even lose to him victory which should be rightfully his. Another factor one must consider; he must have friends of the right sort. You may think you have hundreds of friends who will get out and put in much time in your behalf, but when once you depend upon them you will be surprised how few there are. If you are fortunate enough to have ten men who will get out and put in their time and really give you their support, you are very fortunate indeed.
Then there is the following to be considered; you must take yourself seriously—believe that you can be of real benefit to the community by serving in that capacity. You must not leave your friends to do it all; you must do everything you can to assist your friends. Get a car and drive out into the country and get acquainted with the farmers.
If you have it in mind to win success you must not figure in days, but you must figure in years, and build up slowly for the future.
Also have clear in mind that, once you are elected, the kind of service you desire to give. You will find if you are fortunate enough to be nominated and elected that the opportunities for real service in your city, county or state, are very great. You will find that the usual method followed by politicians is to work for the future, letting the mistakes of the past take care of themselves.
You will find in public service that there is great opportunity to build a reputation for doing things, and if you are in continual fear of injuring somebody’s feelings while rendering a real public service, you will not make a success.