But whenever Paxman seems to stoop a bit, remind yourself that The Political Animal was not written for political scientists, but for that mass audience whom it is desperately important to engage in, and amuse by, politics: something too few in political journalism remember and which Paxman's whole career has triumphantly achieved.
And as often as one passage might seem to oversimplify, another lifts. Take this:
An ex-MP is just an ex-MP. The worst thing about being a former Prime Minister is to be the corporeal expression of an entire, generally discarded, world view.Cruel, beautifully put, and true.
Jeremy Paxman is injudicious, praise be. To his very core this man is a prosecuting counsel, not a judge. So we can hardly complain that in many ways The Political Animal is, though not unthoughtful or without sympathy, a case for the prosecution: a long, elegant and illuminating Oxford Union proposing speech, boisterous and funny, and intentionally provocative. 'In the opinion of this House, British politicians need therapists, not votes.'
But, the case for the prosecution having been made, The Political Animal should bring not an implicit invitation into the Aye or No lobbies, but an expectant hush. Now for the defence. It is a sad fact about our prevailing media climate that I can think of no great popular communicator on current affairs, except perhaps Andrew Marr, who might balance Paxman's brilliant pugilism with an equally elegant and entertaining 'steady on'.
No doubt I went into politics driven partly by a hunger for attention. No doubt I wanted to show schoolmates who mocked me as a boy that the boot was now on the other foot. No doubt I wanted to be loved and found the quest easier with an audience than with an individual. But I also hated socialism: hated it because I had studied it, thought about it, and concluded that it could destroy Britain. I felt this very, very strongly. Huge intellectual and moral confidence in my argument kept (and keeps) my morale up when the political climate - and the audience - turns hostile. I'm right, dammit!
Everything's psycho-politics in the end, for even the arguments for collectivism or capitalism turn upon our assessment of what really motivates people, but Paxman should not discount the possibility that a would-be politician might try in an objective way to survey the evidence, reach a clear conclusion, and become as a result both disinterested and passionate.
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