Stick to your knitting?

Politics as knitting?
There was a small headline on the letters page this morning which said "stick to your knitting". It irritated me. In this context the words are intended to be derogatory. Stay with what you are familiar with and don't stray outside that.
It isn't good advice. There's a lot to learn in both knitting and politics.
Politicians are not good "knitters". There is a problem right from the start in that other people cast on for them - and they don't do it particularly well. That is particularly so when attendance at the ballot box is compulsory. Voters cast on the stitches that get the politician elected. Some voters will cast on their stitch carefully. They will make sure it is not too loose and not too tight. They will have read the policies and considered the other stitches being made.
Some will cast on tightly. They cling to the party whatever might happen and never change their vote. 
Some will cast on so loosely they are in danger of falling off. They don't consider their vote at all. It just had to go somewhere. They mark the ballot paper from "one to ten" straight down the line. It's why would be politicians like being at the top of the ballot paper.
It also seems that most politicians never master the basic knit stitch. Their attempts at simple garter stitch scarves are hopeless. They lose stitches along the way. The stitches they do gain are the result of split stitches, accidental yarn overs or the fraud of knitting into the same stitch twice when they should not be doing it. They never learn the art of knitting into the back of the stitch at the end of the row so their edges are ragged and uneven. 
Some candidates run out of yarn before they have finished casting on. They never get elected. Others get elected and run out of yarn before they finish or, disillusioned, give up and cast their knitting aside. 
Very few politicians end with a wearable scarf.
It's time we taught politicians to knit.