After a person had a big meal the warm fumes from the process of digestion entered the veins, thence to the brain, and thither to the heart, the seat of consciousness, where their cooling brought about sleep.
And if later in the process they find themselves spread hither and thither in different states, talking to voters only on television, here they are real live politicians going about modern-day politics using old-fashioned tools: stump speeches, hokey fund raisers, dinners in diners.