It just goes to show how people are so easily fooled. Because he came across as a genuine guy concerned for the people and the country, and also because he had a handle on the economic situation, he got a landslide vote when he entered politics as a FG candidate.People trusted him to get stuck in and make his contribution within the political system. Maybe Lee self deluded himself , exagerating his importance in his own mind , especially as he was in a powerless opposition , whose main role lay in posturing at every twist and turn of the government and of public opinion.
The reality then hit him.He had left a pampered well paid life in RTE where he had commentated on economic policies and was held in very high regard through his high profile position. And for what,.. to enter the rough and tumble world of cut throat politics where most TDS are firstly more concerned about their own jobs than anything else and national issues are a distant second.
But I would forgive Lee this mistake.But what I found nauseating was the feeble mealy mouthed excuses he came out with ,when he found that the political system didn`t fawn at him ,the same way people"adored" him as a TV pundit. These excuses continued even as he snaked his way back to his secure well paid insulated position at RTE.