A politician's personal story can be very powerful *if* it's the motivation behind public policy. Joe Biden, for example, lost a child and his first wife in a car crash and his son Beau to cancer. But his personal tragedy didn't spur him to enact compassionate policies.

At the end of the day, a politician's job is to enact policies that will benefit we, the people. When politicians show us their wounds and scars, and don't connect their suffering to a motivation to do something for the greater good, they're just manipulating us. Fuck that.

Here's what that looks like:
Biden says he almost had to sell his house to pay for Beau's cancer treatment. Obama had to get Biden the money. Biden says "I don't want any family to ever have that worry, so I'm working to pass Medicare4All." But nope, he uses his pain as a cudgel