The Mythical Politician

It is hard to trust politicians and difficult to believe that there can ever be a politician who is honest. It's not right to generalize but this is generally the perception of most. Not sure, if it is the nature of this job that makes them untrustworthy or is it the untrustworthy that typically join politics. I guess, if we ever say he/she is an honest politician, we are basically saying he/she is honest relative to other politicians only. And this is the case everywhere in the world. Some are openly dishonest but people still blindly follow them. And that makes a mockery of democracy.
Is being truthful really that hard for politicians? They have the worst reputation. There is a backlash against career politicians and the public want freshness in politics. We can see that with the "anti-establishment" candidates being favored by the voters.
If you recall the cases of politicians caught in their nefarious acts, don't you think they should be called "shady" characters and maybe lot worse. Why is politics such a fertile breeding ground for dishonesty?
Is there a connection between lying and number of votes? I guess, to appeal to different sections of society the politician just lies about supporting most of the agendas without really meaning it. They probably do not even know how and whether it can be accomplished but does it matter to them. Promises are to be broken, right? Sometimes they just take an opposite stance of the other party’s agenda.