Paul Simon put public service ahead of self and political party
Excerpt:
Paul Simon was above all that pandering and mean-spirited party loyalty that claims many politicians.
"I have seen public opinion polls take the place of leadership too often, and I have seen excessive partisanship harm our decision-making process," he said in a 1998 article in the Illinois School Board Journal. "I think that people in politics have to stand for something. I think one of the reasons for cynicism today is the public doesn't see us standing for anything other than what the latest poll says."
A good Democrat, Paul Simon refused to let party loyalties stop him from speaking the truth.
The "worst part" of the Bill Clinton sex scandal "was when Bill Clinton asked [image consultant] Dick Morris to take a poll on whether or not he should tell the truth," Paul Simon said in that school board journal article. "You don't take a poll on something like that! I never took a poll on anything before I decided how to vote on things. I did what I thought was best for the country."