I've had political friends all my life. By
that I mean legislators, elected administrators including mayors,
senators and governors, political appointees, cabinet heads and
sheriffs. Considering the long years I've been active in many
communities and many countries and considering the wide range of my
activities, the next sentence will be surprising. I have had dinner,
dates and spent many hours with political friends but never once have I
used my access to a political friend for any personal or business
purpose. Never.
Why? Because the people who need to use political influence are usually involved in real estate, real estate development, construction or a field directly related to government regulatory activity. That has not been me. Most people can find little or no use for their personal relations with politicians.
Conversely, I could never be in politics because the friends you have are almost exclusively people who want to use you.