Beware the politically obsessed. They are often bright and interesting, but they have something missing in their natures; there is a hole, an empty place, and they use politics to fill it up. It leaves them somehow misshapen.

Noonan cautions against people for whom politics becomes a substitute for inner life—identity, meaning, or emotional wholeness. The “hole” she describes suggests a psychological or spiritual lack that is managed by constant engagement with political conflict, tribal belonging, and moral certainty. Her point is not that political interest is bad, but that obsession can deform character: it narrows curiosity, hardens empathy, and turns every experience into a partisan instrument. The warning also implies that such people can be compelling—“bright and interesting”—yet ultimately unreliable companions because their fixation crowds out other forms of love, humor, and self-knowledge.