“It is all wrong,” wrote Aristotle, “that a person who is going to be deemed worthy of the office should himself solicit it.”
That little blast as politicians resonates in California today. When you look around the state, our most effective politicians are those who haven’t sought elective office, at least yet.
For my money, the two best politicians in California work at the same company: Facebook. Sheryl Sandberg has made herself a major public figure who, for all her flaws, speaks coherently to full political spectrum on many major issues, and specifically to the experiences of women and families with an authenticity that Hillary Clinton achieved only in her wildest dreams. One wonders how much her boss Mark Zuckerberg’s emergence as a political and cultural figure owes to her counsel.
Silicon Valley has a third political giant, Apple’s Tim Cook, who has mixed progressivism with an openness to Republicans and their ideas. Some might wish he was as good at pushing forward compelling new products as he is at managing Apple’s complicated global politics.
In the Southern part of the state sit two political giants of different stripes. The billionaire Eli Broad is the state’s foremost political bully, boasting of just how unreasonable he is. But he often gets his way, and has made a huge impact on the state’s culture, education and science systems without running for office.
And then there’s Disney chairman and CEO Robert Iger, an iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove type. He’s such an adept manager of the state’s best known and most beloved company that no one can seem to replace him. And he gets mentioned for offices from president to governor to mayor of New York City.
Here’s an observation that speaks volume about the state of California politics, and the general lack of regard for those who practice it. If any of these 5 were to actually seek office, he or she would be immediately diminished. Because today’s our best politicians don’t run for public office.