if you were actually curious why I think that it'll have to wait until later.
Sure! Look forward to it 
Nothing profound. It could be that I'm just not cynical.
The way I see it, everybody looks at things from different perspectives and has different values and ideas about what is right and wrong and good and bad. But because it is instinctual for us to see "evil" in people who don't act according to our own morals, we end up thinking of them as bad people. They are acting according to
their morals, and so when we disagree they think
we are bad people. We then view every action of the other side from that perspective. In reality, both sides are fighting for what they think is right and good, but it doesn't seem that way from the other side.
Then, throw into that the fact that humans are very imperfect. Even when we mean well we screw up, fail, offend people, misspeak, etc. Misunderstandings that occur when each side is already skeptical and suspicious lead to animosity or cynicism.
Now obviously, one could say that people like Hitler or Bin Laden were just acting based on their values and morals and what they thought was right. So unless we apply our own values at least a little bit you wouldn't be able to call anybody evil. But my personal opinion is that "bad" people are really very rare. Think about it, do you know any "bad" people? I'm not talking about the jerk at the coffee shop or the idiot who ran a red light and smashed your car. You don't really know those people. I'm talking about people you know. Heck, we have somebody here who spews racist nonsense, and yet I doubt many if any of us consider him inherently bad or think he is motivated by evil thinking. In reality, most people we think of as "bad" are people we don't actually know and we'd probably think differently if they were a friend or family member.
So I start with that view of people in general and look at the behavior of politicians.
First, I wonder why they would choose such a profession. In today's society it would seem that you get more power through money than through being part of government, and there are certainly better ways to make money, so I'm not entirely sure that's it. I also see many politicians still active in trying to do good even after they have left office, which makes me think that the desire to do the right thing greatly influences their choice. (For an obvious example, Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter don't need the hassle, but they are both still active in trying to bring peace or prosperity to the world. People do similar things on smaller scales.) This, plus my base belief that people do what they do because they think its right, makes me believe that politicians get into politics primarily because they want to do the right thing. You could argue there are better ways to do the right thing, but I would point to human imperfections like ego which lead many people to believe that they can help through wielding power.
So politicians are imperfect people trying to do the right thing but who in most cases have a different idea from me about what the right thing is. A big part of being able to do the right thing is being in a position to do it. That's the power seeking part. It's harder to do something if somebody else is the one getting elected. And in politics, it's difficult to get elected without emphasizing campaign pledges, differentiating yourself from your opponent, and making compromises that might go against your real beliefs. I mean, you really have a hard time getting elected if you don't do these things, right?
When I look at the behavior of most politicians, it completely fits that pattern. Flawed people who are trying to do the right thing, but recognize that they have to compromise their beliefs a little to be able to make that happen. They talk about some things that maybe they don't care about, but the reason behind doing so is so they can be in a position to do things that they do care about and they do think are important. Despite being completely different people with very different values, I think GW Bush and Obama both fit that description. And if that applies to two people so different, it should be obvious that I think it's true for most other politicians as well.
Holy fuck I made a long post again. Damn it I meant to make it only a few sentences. Sorry about that, but there you go.
Shit... I just now saw your previous edit and now my whole post doesn't make sense. Oh well, I guess I'll fix it tomorrow.
