Intellect and pragmatism don`t seem to count for much anymore though!
Less and less every year, on both sides of the Atlantic, it would seem.
Politicians seem to get more and more polarized, and consequently less and less effective every year.
Now it's all about how loud can you shout/tweet and virtue signal your progressive/conservative credentials to energize your core supporters. Drives me nuts to the point where I've basically given up - there's barely a single politician on either side of the aisle, in the US or in the UK, that I admire any more.