Attack of the power tools

No one denies that the last week and a half in New Jersey politics have been extraordinary. What is striking, though, is that the irregularity in this Senate race has been one of process and not one of personality. Everyone seems to have an opinion about a new election having gone to the courts, but where is the shock at the emergence of another corrupt politician?

Bob Torricelli is just one in a long line of distinguished persons who have signed their names in Washington, only to later become mired in ethical scandal. We all remember how Bill Clinton, our talented but destructively amorous 42nd President, faced the rare indignity of impeachment over his concealment of extramarital relations. Then there's Bob Packwood of Oregon, who in 1995 resigned from the Senate amid charges of sexual harassment. For critics of the current administration, the names Harken and Halliburton hold the hopeful promise of scandals to come. Even Senator John McCain, the straight-talking crusader for reform, almost lost his legislative career over his involvement in the "Keating Five" Savings & Loan scandal.

No, Americans have become so accustomed to the notion of the corrupt politician that in many people's minds, the term is nothing more than a redundancy. One can imagine Torricelli wondering why this familiarity has not led to acceptance. Indeed, in his farewell address he asked with genuine perplexity, "When did we become such an unforgiving people?"

Forgiveness seems an odd request. Just as I would never use a baker whom I knew to make bad bread or a barber whom I knew to give a bad haircut, I would never elect a politician whom I knew to take bribes. While I might not question his ability to make good policy, political ethics are simply too essential to the proper function of the office to be ignored.

Then why do so many of the people we elect end up in scandal? Is it merely a case of power corrupting, or are the people who seek elected office naturally corrupt? Perhaps some insight might come from a word out of the Princeton lexicon: Tool.

We all know tools. Most Wilson School majors have to fight off the label on an almost daily basis. Some of you may even know people for whom the term "power tool" might be more fitting. For the sake of clarity, though, let us try to work with a precise definition.

A tool is someone who comes into Princeton with a certain agenda. Classes and activities are chosen as preparation for a goal, most frequently public service. The feature that makes this term unappealing and often derogatory is that the tool is not here to explore or to pursue passions that may emerge along the way. The true tool can be likened to a farmer with plow in hand, cultivating resources for a definite purpose without ever even thinking to veer off course.

So what does this have to do with political corruption? Consider this line from Senator McCain's new book: "I have wanted renown and influence for their own sake." Sounds to me as if he's admitting to being the perfect tool, that while his populism may have been genuine and meaningful, it was in the end only an afterthought to his ambition.

Often the personality that craves political power will also want power in other spheres (sexual, material, interpersonal, etc.). Illegal gifts are the easiest way to obtain material satisfaction on a public servant's salary. Seducing young interns is a perfect display of the sexual dominance one can attain through office. And the list goes on.

My argument is not that every tool on this campus can expect to lead a life of political corruption and scandal. My hope and assumption is that nothing could be farther from the case. But it does appear that often those who seek power for power's sake do not have the self-control necessary to stop at benevolent political influence.

I do not propose any sort of macroor microlevel model. There is no formula for crookedness. All I ask is that those of you who approach your education as the seed for influence use this as an opportunity for self-reflection. Be sure that at the core of your quest for renown is an earnest desire to affect positive change. Lowell Schiller is a Wilson School major from Warren Township, N.J. He can be reached at schiller@princeton.edu.