I thought about running for local office a few years back. And then I thought-- what if I actually get elected???
Sobering thought right there.
I have a front row seat to it. People only contact their elected officials when they are upset and want something. It takes a special kind of skill to deal with that. And no matter what decision you make, someone won't like it. And when you make a decision that someone doesn't like, you're an idiot, or uncaring, or mean, or...fill in the angry response.
The process is intentionally slow, which no one likes, except when they understand that the reason it's slow is to allow "the people" to weigh in--the whole point in a democracy. People love the opportunity to participate, but they hate that the process takes too long. And they mostly don't connect the two.
And there's a reason that "hot topic" issues are difficult; there are opposing sides with legitimate interests that are at risk, and those sides will fight hard for their interests. As "they" say, it's not the majority that wins in a democracy, it's the motivated and well-organized minority that wins. Why? Because they will fight harder for their direct interests than the majority will fight for something that doesn't directly impact them (or at least not in the same way).
Which is all to say that it's hard work.
On the other hand, the elected is the one at the table making the decisions, which is pretty cool, if you're into that sort of thing.
