“Good” is not the adjective that springs to mind when most people think about politicians. Unscrupulous, self-serving, incompetent, sure—but good? Not so much.
As our political landscape grows ever more polarized—and ordinary Americans feel increasingly alienated from the political process—the conventional wisdom seems to be that when it comes to elected officials, a good man is hard to find. As humorist Kin Hubbard once put it, “We’d all love to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.”
At the Good Men Project Magazine, we want to believe that there are a few good men in politics. We need to believe it. So we spent the last few months looking for them.
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We looked for men with integrity and intellectual honesty.
We looked for men who respect their political opponents, treat their constituents like the adults they are, and promote openness and transparency in government.
We looked for men with compelling ideas—and the ability and vision to turn those ideas into action. Do we endorse everything they stand for? No. But we can respect those we disagree with.
We looked for men who can see beyond the next election cycle and who have the political courage to lay the foundation for America’s future success—even if it means making unpopular decisions today.
We looked for men who are willing to work in good faith with those from across the aisle in order to get things done.
We looked for men who are not afraid to challenge their party’s leadership when that leadership is putting politics and partisan mudslinging above what’s best for the country.
Most importantly, we looked for men who aren’t completely full of shit.
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Sadly, we didn’t find any. Just kidding. Believe it or not, there are actually more than 10 good men in politics. In list-making, as in politics, you can’t make everyone happy, so we had to exclude some worthy candidates from our Top 10 Good Politicians list. We also excluded many worthy women—we are the Good Men Project, after all.
While we don’t expect our list to restore your faith in America’s political system, we do hope to bring your attention to elected officials worth respecting for their integrity, their passion, and their ideas.
In addition to our list, we asked fifteen political thinkers, commentators, and journalists—including Cokie Roberts, David Brooks, Andrew Sullivan, John Podesta, Chris Wallace, Andrea Mitchell, Joan Walsh, Thomas Frank, and Jonathan Capehart—for their nomination of a “good man” in politics.
Disagree with them? Disagree with us? Or, better yet, agree with us? Let us know in the comments. Oh, and go vote on November 2.
The Top-10 Good Men Politicians
10) Mitch Daniels
8 ) Mark Strama
6) Jeff Flake
5) Al Franken
3) Cory Booker
2) Paul Ryan
1) Carl Levin
About the Editors
I think the list would make much more sense if you explained why you included these people on the list – each individually, not as a whole – then one cold see the reasoning in it. I would like to read your response, Senator Sanders. Thank-you.
senator bernie sanders is without question the best person in our government today. i wouldn’t feel that i’m overestimating at all in saying that 99% of those in congress are corporate controlled stooges, and bernie is most certainly not. i am also surprised to not see senator russ feingold, the only senator to not vote for the patriot act – in doing so being alone in standing up for our civil liberties – in 2002.
Carl Paladino is a “Good Man”
3 times this screen has changed and lost my words——I agree w/Willl 100% read The Powell Memo
Folks, turn that anger to solving the problem. Too many of our politicians should go home.
How can we limit their terms of service to 2, but not more than 3 terms in office? This needs to be done for the good of this country.
We support their behavior by letting them stay in office. They are not entitled to a government seat for life.
Ryan is about where he belongs though #1 would be a better ranking. I see a bunch of tantrum tossing towards Ryan for his stance on gay marriage. And most of it is phony outrage because the same people give Carl Levin a pass regarding his wishy washy stance on repealing DADT. more selective outrage from the professional leftists.
Interesting that the two single politicians who prohibit the initiation of force and fraud in their politics are absent from the list. From the time of Confucius, all societies have followed this “golden rule”, (outside of government), until their governments based on force and fraud have destroyed the society, usually by murdering millions of innocent civilians in conquest or democide. Jeff Flake, one of the better people on your list, supported protectionist legislation that put non-cartel dairy farmers out of business. All the other politicians are even worse than he is. Russ Feingold, for instance, pushed through “McCain-Feingold”, legislation that has eroded the right of election candidates to speak freely, levying fines against those who do not comply with arcane financial reporting rules, eliminating competition for the incumbent politicians. Everywhere you look in politics, force and fraud rule the day.
Without recognizing that taxation is theft, this list is laughable. All politicians attempt to do good with others’ money. Without this recognition, the aims of all politicians are corrupt, because they depend on coercion.
Ron and Rand Paul are the only two federal politicians in Washington who should be on this list. Mitch Daniels might be good, although I don’t know the details of his record.
Tell me this, though, how many people here support the prohibitionism that has incarcerated 1.2 million innocent Americans? Jim Webb, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Ed Coleman, and maybe one or two others are the only ones who seem to care about the Bill of Rights enough to oppose the insane, immense evil of prohibition.
Your list is simply not credible, and it never will be, without recognition that politics in America has grossly overstepped the Bill of Rights, and the principle of “consent of the governed” found in our Declaration of Independence. These two documents once held the ability of government coercion in check. No more. The American State’s ability to ignore the golden rule is now unlimited, the enlightenment values out country was founded on are gone.
How you missed Ron Paul, the most consistent, principled and honest politician of his era, or arguably of any era is beyond me.
Think what you will of his politics, but his candor, his respectful dialogue and his refusal to bend to the powers that be in the name of liberty are second to none.
This list is baffling in its inconsistency.
Part of being a good man is showing self-awareness, and the fortitude to live according to one’s convictions – regardless of personal difficulty. Paul Ryan fails this test.
Ryan rose to his current position thanks to the welfare state; specifically Social Security, upon which he attended college.
He advocates for the others an Ayn Rand-inspired level of self-sufficiency, the dismantling of this social safety net.
IOTW: “I got mine – f*ck you”.
This list is now painfully dated, with the revelation about Ryan’s taste in wine and drinking buddies.
I actually got excited about his website, until I saw Paul Ryan on this list. This is a joke, isn’t it? Paul Ryan? this guy doesn’t have one ounce of integrity in his whole body. Paul Ryan is, excuse my language, the biggest corporate prostitute that has ever existed. He is a complete sold out. He gets his marching orders from the Koch brothers, and those orders are all about destroying the fabric of this great nation: the middle class. Guess what, no middle class = No Democracy. How can you put someone on this list who champions tyranny? You have lost all credibility. Bernie Sanders should definitely be at the top of the list. He is the only one out there who fights for true freedom, liberty and justice for all, not just for the greedy 1%.
Also Mitch Daniel? are you high or something? but Paul Ryan beats them all in being the king of evil.
Paul Ryan’s “Roadmap” is a trumped-up plan to facilitate further corporate take-over. When all is said and done, we can vote who gets put in power in the government. We can’t vote on CEOs. I would rather pay my taxes to the government with all its flaws (and even corporate influences) than give more power to big money.
And what is with Flake? I am so glad to see someone speaking up about the earmarks, but I think his politicizing of the funding of scientific research mars that. Now we need someone more vocal in defense of honest science than Flake is against earmarks.
My vote goes to Bernie Sanders. At least he is truly for the people.
Why the HELL is Ron Paul not on this list? You ppl r crazy!! He should be at the TOP!!
Look up quotes of Boris Johnson. He is better than all of these.
It has been cited that Mitch Daniels has saved Indiana from financial ruin. The question is, “How did he do it”? To meet his new budget, he fired thousands of state employees. This was not a “cutting of the fat”. A large percentage of the newly unemployed state workers are the ones who have dedicated 30, even 40 years to their jobs. These same people are finding it impossible to find new jobs because of their age. Even though it is illegal to not hire someone because of their age, the fact is no one is hiring 50 and 60 year old people in his economy, especially when their work experience is limited to state government. It is a tragic event for these folks. Many have had to cash in retirement plans just to keep their homes. My wife is one such case. She had over 30 years es an employee of the BMV.
I voted for Daniels twice because I am a lifelong conservative. Now, I have a very cynical view of all politicians. His policies have virtually destroyed our lives and taken a toll on our health. The stress is unbearable. I guess it is a negligible price to pay for Mr. Daniels career advancement.
For Mitch Daniels, the old saying holds true, “The ends justify the means”!
“We looked for men with integrity and intellectual honesty.
We looked for men who respect their political opponents, treat their constituents like the adults they are, and promote openness and transparency in government.”
Given the first two criteria, neither hoosier merits a spot on this list. Take it from a hoosier. You need only look at the amount that Indiana owes for it’s underfunded unemployment trust fund. It will start incurring penalties at the end of the current Daniel’s administration. Lugar has finally sold his vote to the party of NO!
I could not agree more. This man is so corporate in his views he should say he is CEO of Wisconsin.