Neither wanted to have an avowedly partisan elected politician in prime time.
"At the end of the day," Mr. Mastro said, "the people who will judge our work are not the partisan politicians, but the voters."
"I'm just not a partisan politician," he added.
Elections should not be managed by partisan politicians.
They recall a competitive young man who became a fiercely partisan politician.
Judges subject to reappointment know that a partisan politician is watching every move, a gross intrusion on judicial integrity.
Thereafter, he declared himself a partisan politician.
Media critics asked whether a partisan politician could reasonably be expected to maintain objectivity.
Chinese sufferers are not helped by spasmodic and noisy interventions by partisan politicians playing to a domestic American audience.
Posing as an amiable guy rather than a partisan politician has great advantages in democratic power politics.