Interesting anecdote:

I was once working in some clinical research when it came time to process an interview conducted by the PI for speech samples. Here's what I took away from listening to the "free talk" portion, in which the subject chose to discuss his personal life and work.

The subject had been active in the Democratic Party in the 1960s and eventually worked as a mid-level organizer on the state-level. He left the party in the mid-70s because he "was very disappointed" in the policies the party was taking with respect to abortion. After leaving the party, he basically (aside from whatever small business ventures he discussed) spent his time doing nonpartisan community-level work to improve infrastructure, get public services to people, etc.