How long does it take for a young idealist to turn into a soulless cynic on the campaign trail?

Imagine a young student of political sciences with high ideals and ideas he can change his country through politics. Recently graduated, he gets his first real job working in the back-stages of a real political campaign with a candidate he feels will change the way it's done in Washington.





So how long until he finds himself in a hotel room one night between his ninth and tenth scotch, staring out at the window whispering: There is no country... There is no God...How long does it take for a young idealist to turn into a soulless cynic on the campaign trail?
Not very long. Being around members of Congress and other political candidates is an eye opening experience. You realize they're not much brighter than the rest of us.





I've always questioned the sanity of anyone willing to put themselves thru such campaigns.How long does it take for a young idealist to turn into a soulless cynic on the campaign trail?
wait five minutes
Does a cynic have to be soulless? If so, why?


Do all young students of political science have to be idealists? Can't they be realists?


Is this person so weak-minded that he can't deal with the real world?


Maybe he can put the whole sour experience out of his mind, go back to school as a professor of political sciences and mold the next crop on unrealistic idealists.