If a pol were a sandwich, would he be a hero?

Francis X. Clines is a pearl within the Tiffany oyster of The New York Times. I was apparently wearing my reverence on my sleeve yesterday when I went to the Times building to interview him: as I was leaving, a grinning security guard in the lobby asked me if he should laminate my guest’s name-tag and mail it to me.

Ha ha ha, I responded.

I talked to Clines, a veteran political reporter who now covers national politics, Congress and campaign finance as a member of the editorial board, for 50 minutes in his office. During that time, Clines shared with me his opinion of Bush ("the worst president" in Clines’ lifetime), tips on editorial-writing (trust your instincts and don’t put initial reactions "through a shammy of profundity"), and an assessment of the pressures between the liberal ed board and a Times ownership that gave three quarters of a million bucks to the Republican National Convention (they don’t exist).

My favorite thing he said was this; pure inspiration in a column-inch:

"The funny thing is, I love politicians because they’re the best way to get at the ultimate story of humanity, which is what? It’s a mixture of idealism, audacity, opportunism, the inevitable survival of humanity, and someone has to step forward, and that sort of thing. So I admire them ultimately. And they reflect all of our flaws. They’re human. It’s a great story because they’re human."

He put it simply, and it sounds almost Homeric. For all the sound bites they dish, and all the bubble-wrap with which their staff separates them from probing media, politicians are human and their role is a noble one.

It must be awfully hard, in the first place, for them to step onto the chopping-block. For all the respect they earn, politicians are talked nastily about, publicly scrutinized, and often made to sit through boring meetings. I can’t imagine talking in press-release-speak and having to plan my outfit (or hairdo) around whatever color makes America feel the safest. (And you know advisers to both Kerry and Bush consulted the same website the night before the final debate. The candidates were wearing the same thing down to the polka-dot.)