Yes, politicians "are in it for the power" -- after all that is the nature of public office -- but the issue then becomes, is a particular politician seduced by power and focused on career, ego, and venal gains, or do they genuinely want to use power to do their job and accomplish one or more worthy objectives that they are open and clear about? I have seen and known both types, with most politicians being a changeable mixture.
Some years ago, on a controversial good government type civic issue, at a key moment, my brother and I recruited a Machiavellian type climber as an ally for a time because he saw the advantage in helping us. Yet we had no illusions about the rottenness of politics so we went to war against those on the other side using valid legal and ethics issues.
We ended several political careers and damaged others that way, enough so as to get a reputation. Eventually, no one wanted to be an advocate for the other side and we won a complete victory against the local and state political establishments. My brother and I still laugh about chasing down a powerful GOP legislator in the state capitol building during session. We trapped him like two cats running down a rodent for fun and made him squirm over the obvious lies he was telling on our issue.
It certainly is. The translations from Machiavelli's Italian are especially difficult. I sometimes spend 2-3 minutes trying to parse one of those long, long sentences. And occasionally replacing a translator's word with one that makes a clause make sense to this 21sr century reader. Still, it's worth it.
For them as don't know, Machiavelli is the founding father of political science, and The Prince is an observation of reality, not an instruction manual as so many believe.