Get creative! Everybody: input please: "Politician vs. Representative"

[SparklyJr]

Hi everyone!

Okay, for my English Composition class, I was assigned to write a comparison essay comparing two synonyms (the idea came from Dave Barry's "Guys Vs. Men," the intro to The Complete Guide To Guys," so the essay can have a ring of humor to it).

I chose "Politicians vs. Representatives." 'Politician' meaning the deceitful, bullshitting, photo-op sort of fella (coughBushiescough), and 'representative' meaning an upstanding, honest man/woman, who is in office because they have a genuine desire to govern a people.

So-- I've already got a basic outline for the essay, but I want you guy's opinions! Use your imagination: What are the characteristics of a politician, vs. characteristics of a representative/statesman? It can be anything, really-- from their speech content to their hair spray. Whatever.

Note.. I wanted to use 'Statesman' instead of 'Representative' because I believe statesman is the correct synonym, but my English professor (who, by the way, has never taught an English class) advised me to use representative.. what do you guys think? If you can think of any other synonyms that would be more appropriate for the same sort of content, I'd like to hear those, too.

I'm excited to hear your responses! :)

-- Sparkly Jr

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. modern meanings?

you could poll your class...


What does 'politician' mean to you?

What does 'representative mean to you?


Could be very enlightening.

[SparklyJr]

2. Yes,

Yes, that's exactly what the essay is about-- what 'politician' means to me versus representative' means to me. I'm to compare the two terms and designate each with a certain connotation.

For example, I believe Dubya is a politician, whereas Wes Clark is a true representative...

Hm. The word 'representative' is really rubbing me the wrong way; I'd rather use 'statesman' or a something similar..

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Well, a statesman is a leader, perhaps a visionary, and a...

representative is a follower employed to do the bidding of his masters. A politician is an operative, a tool-- might be a leader, might be a crook, usually means someone elected but not necessarily. I don't really see any of these as synomyms, but I do see statesman and representative as probably antonyms, so best not to go there.

I suppose these sort of definitions are necessarily hazy, but it's an interesting excercise.

I'd start with a representative being one whose primary interest is in representing the wishes of his constituency. A politician is one whose primary interest is the mechanics of working the system.

Can't really have one without the other in the real world, though, and I suppose what we'd like to see is the ideal mixture of all three of these concepts.