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From the standpoint of actual issues evaluation, I think being a Beta was a key part of a college experience where I learned to question my beliefs and understand them before just accepting them- but Beta alone was not responsible.
However, being a Beta has had an enormous impact on my approach to politics in general- in the workplace as well as in the voting booth.
Going Greek is an experience that has a value far in excess of ANY other college activity purely because a person will be an active part of a political process in a self-governed chapter where they make decisions which directly impact them and many people around them. It is a self-contained society in a sense where a single vote's power is easily seen and everyone who participates in, and lives by, the process is right there where the impact of decisions is immediately recognizable.
This is all the more powerful for people who spend any of their time living in a chapter house.
At Beta I learned to be pragmatic, pick my battles and to keep politics separate from personal feelings.
And from that process when I look at political candidates or people who I might be working with/working for- I look for people who do not go overboard to "tow a party line", for people who will work with those with opposing views to come up with a solution that addresses broader concerns without sacrificing basic principles and finally- someone who knows when reaching across the aisle is not going to matter and just moves forward and gets something done.
Noone is that perfect they can always do these things, but I think when a person strives to take that kind of approach it shows.
And this is what I look for. In terms of national government, I am more interested in a person's approach than their specific issues most of the time because in the long run it is not specific views that create successful government- but successful management.
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