A more common &quot;entry level&quot; position to gain a foothold in politics in urban areas is usually as a prosecutor. The career path is often to then run for DA ( whatever they call it ) of a largish city.<p>I&#x27;d trace this back to TR, the decline of machine politics and the rise of meritocratic city governance. Indeed, Barrack Obama offends many Conservatives because his background is as a community organizer, which harkens to their ear back to machine politics.<p>Obviously, this varies.