Politics is full of shills. They are apparently innocent-looking people who surround you, pretending to be your supporters, and urge you to keep spending your money on campaigning because "you will win", "the people want you", "the people need you", "you are our only hope", and so on. They are exactly like the con artists in gambling dens who hover round you and urge you to lay your bets "one more time" because they "strongly feel" that you are "sure to win and make lots of money".

When the going starts to get rough, all of these shills conveniently disappear.

It is true that one has many enemies in politics, but the safest assumption of all is that one has NO FRIENDS.
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