Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. —Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author

In a democracy, a politician must favorably influence the majority of their voting constituents. In all political decisions, a politician calculates how many votes are gained by voting money spent on an interest group versus how many votes are lost.