There are plenty of politicians who get into politics precisely because they love interacting with everyone.

It doesn't take the pleasure out of it, it doesn't make it transactional. It just gives them incredible job fulfillment, at least in that part of it.

Bill Clinton was famous for this. It was incredibly frustrating to his staff because he was constantly late for his next event, because he always wanted to keep talking to the people he'd just met. They'd have to build in buffer time to plan around it, because otherwise it wound up disrupting his schedule and logistics too much.

Yeah, especially with the interns.

Hey bud, with all due respect, you’re arguing against who someone believes they are.

Hold on… what do I believe I am?!

I would have rather said he was arguing with who you about who you each think you can be. That is different. The question is whether or not you think you can remain a genuine and caring person while being a politician.

Maybe you did this too: I misread the comment you're replying to as

> …you’re arguing against someone who believes they are.

when actually it says

> …you’re arguing against who someone believes they are.

(meaning “you're arguing with someone against who they believe themselves to be” or something like that.)

Oh, you’re right - I did. I was very confused! Thanks for pointing this out.

I'm surprised by all the people saying they dislike transactional talk. Voluntary trades are positive sum by definition, so a good transactional conversation should also be a joyous one.