Servant-Leader Politician: An oxymoron?

One of the more lively discussions I've had with our Servant-Leadership classes have been on the role of servant-leadership in politics. Can a politician be a servant-leader? Certainly there are great politicians who serve their constituency well. But is that enough? Besides their constituency there is also the common good; that is, what is best for the nation. And when politicians only worry about their voters back home, the nation suffers from pork-barrel spending.

A great example of this can be found in this op-ed piece in the NY Times. It is an insightful piece about how the recently passed transportation bill will provide a $300 million road for Alaskans that goes absolutely nowhere. Seems like every time I start to build some confidence in what congress is doing, I have to read stories like this.