The Four Types of Politicians

Principled Politician:

Believes that the rules and regulations set forth by the government should reflect certain principals. They may be liberal or conservative, capitalistic or socialistic, that doesn't matter. He believes that his job, the job of the Government, is to serve the public interest the best that it can.

Power Seeking Politician:

Has no principled beliefs. He is in politics to gain personal power and wealth. He can change sides as necessary to stay important. To him the government is nothing more that a tool to be used for personal gain.

Patsy Politician:

He has no real principals of his own. He is not personally concerned with anything but is easily swayed by flowery speeches into supporting the cause of others. He likes the attention of government service and is many times oblivious to the consequences of his actions.

Pretender Politician:

He is not in government to serve the public interest or to gain power. He does not support a democratic form of government at all. He can not change the government from the outside so he pretends to serve the people in order to affect change in the system it's self. He takes advantage of the Power Seeker's selfish desires and the Patsy's tendency to be easily manipulated to push an agenda of "reform".

To be sure, the end goal is not the welfare of the public, but the conquest of a nation.  Not to reform our government, but to replace it.