Apparently a real politico named Reilly (I was told–but forgot–his first name) once explained that a successful Washington career has the following stages:
1. Who’s Reilly?
2. Get me Reilly!
3. Get me a Reilly.
4. Who’s Reilly?
The goal is to reach stage 2 early, and then stay there as long as possible.
In Hollywood, stage 3 is “Get me a young Reilly.”