Leadership Quote by Scott McCallum

The line looks like humility, but it’s really a pressure release valve. “Politicians are no different than the rest of the public” sounds democratic and disarming, the kind of phrase that asks voters to lower their pitchforks. Coming from a politician, its intent is less confession than normalization: if politics disappoints you, that’s not a scandal, it’s humanity. The implied argument is that flaws in government are downstream of flaws in citizens - impatience, tribalism, self-interest - so outrage at “them” should be redirected toward a more uncomfortable mirror.

The subtext works because it blurs responsibility. On one hand, it punctures the comforting fantasy that corruption and cynicism live only in marble buildings. On the other, it quietly equalizes power. The public can be petty; politicians can pass laws. Saying they’re “no different” flattens that asymmetry and can function as a preemptive excuse: mistakes, compromises, even ethical lapses become just the inevitable messiness of ordinary people, not failures of office.

Context matters: Scott McCallum, a Wisconsin Republican who governed in the post-9/11, early-2000s era of hardening partisanship, faced an electorate increasingly suspicious of institutions. This kind of sentiment plays well in a climate where anti-elitism is currency. It offers solidarity without surrendering authority: I’m one of you, therefore trust me. The line’s rhetorical power is its plausible cynicism - and its quiet request that we stop demanding better than we demand of ourselves.