As The Politician intro sequence makes clear, there are many parts that go into making Peyton (Ben Platt), all carefully curated by the student himself: Patriotic school pins in one compartment, prescription drugs in another. However, his actual success (although that term is debatable) in the St. Sebastian High School election and beyond is constructed almost entirely by the characters in his orbit. Alice (Julia Schlaepfer), McAfee (Laura Dreyfuss), James (Theo Germaine), Infinity (Zoey Deutch), Skye (Rahne Jones), and even nemesis Astrid (Lucy Boynton) individually inform, supplement, and challenge Peyton’s image creating the ideal candidate. It would not be wrong to say — and this is especially true by the end of season one — that Peyton doesn’t have what it takes by himself to make a convincing case for his presidency, yet we see his entire campaign team, as well as former enemies, abandon their adult lives to return to their down-and-out former candidate ahead of season two. Despite their arguably superior knowledge and perspectives, their political dreams rest solely on Peyton.