On a mission

Just an observation after having spent a few weeks interviewing political candidates. There are two types of people who run for office -- those who are on a mission, and those who run for a variety of other reasons (an interesting challenge, a good career move, they think they can do a better job than whoever is already serving, etc.). The race that is the most likely to draw those on a mission is the one for school board. People don't seem to just wake up one day and decide they'll run for school board because it seems like a good idea (which some DO in many other races). They either think the school system is in terrible shape and want to do something about it soon, or they think it's doing a good job and needs defending against all its enemies. Very few candidates are in the middle.