As a lifelong readaholic, I recently decided to find out why the novels of Louis L’Amour are so popular. Being a fan of historical fiction, I borrowed his book Sitka from the library.

On page 320 I found this passage, which you might find useful in coaching aspiring politicians:

“He, Walker,had been called a genius of party management. To many outside the understanding of world affairs, the term might seem less than flattering, yet Walker preferred it to any other. He knew how to line up the votes, knew what the states and territories needed, and he knew that statecraft consists of a reconciling of viewpoints, and to be a superior statesman one must also be a superior politician. It was not enough to have vision, to have a program. It was not enough to be strong, sincere, honest. In a democracy one also needed votes, and to put over a program one must find a way to win the votes of those with less vision and possibly even less loyalty to country.”

*Above is a note that came in my email this morning from a friend/associate. It made me think, and so I thought it important to share.