In most cases, the personal views of ghost writers simply don't make any difference.
Sure, there could be ghost writers who turn down assignments because they're uncomfortable with a certain aspect of the employer's philosophy or life, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
For most books - or even shorter assignments - the personal views of the ghost writer just aren't that important since they assume the voice of the person who's name's going to be on the front of the book.
Hiring a political ghost writer is different.
Sure, many writers may not let their personal views get in the way of their ability to do a good job.
In many cases, they may not even care much about politics and simply take the job as they would any other.
Trying to hire a political ghost writer like that, though, is a decision that you'll be doomed to regret.
When it comes to politics, there are very distinct thought processes that people with different ideologies undergo.
When someone shares an ideology, it becomes much easier to express views of an employer who agrees with them.
To be sure, the writer must walk a fine line in which they express a viewpoint similar to their own in the voice of the person for whom they're writing the book; it's not simply a platform for them to spout their own views.
The problem with hiring someone whose ideology is not in line with your own, though, or even someone who doesn't really have a clearly defined one, is that they won't do justice to the views that you want them to express.
Yes, they can attempt to understand where you're coming from and write accordingly, but they will at best miss some of the core reasoning that you want to get across.
At worst, there will be fatal flaws that appear in the work, whether intentionally or not, that subvert the reasoning contained in the work.
The most obvious example of this would be a libertarian hiring a ghost writer.
Libertarians have a very distinct thought pattern.
In most cases, they identify the same problems as everybody else, but the causes and solutions to those problems are entirely different.
Someone who is not well schooled in libertarian philosophy - or worse, someone who is well schooled in it but still does not subscribe to it - will not be able to express libertarian views in the same way that a libertarian would.
To be sure, you and your political ghost writer will never agree on everything, and it is the responsibility of your ghost writer to stick to your views rather than their own.
That's fine and expected.
Even so, if their ideology is similar to your own, they should be able to express your views as you would express them without the substantial bias or lack of understanding that would be present in the writing of someone of a different frame of mind, regardless of how talented that person might be.
Sure, there could be ghost writers who turn down assignments because they're uncomfortable with a certain aspect of the employer's philosophy or life, but that's the exception rather than the rule.
For most books - or even shorter assignments - the personal views of the ghost writer just aren't that important since they assume the voice of the person who's name's going to be on the front of the book.
Hiring a political ghost writer is different.
Sure, many writers may not let their personal views get in the way of their ability to do a good job.
In many cases, they may not even care much about politics and simply take the job as they would any other.
Trying to hire a political ghost writer like that, though, is a decision that you'll be doomed to regret.
When it comes to politics, there are very distinct thought processes that people with different ideologies undergo.
When someone shares an ideology, it becomes much easier to express views of an employer who agrees with them.
To be sure, the writer must walk a fine line in which they express a viewpoint similar to their own in the voice of the person for whom they're writing the book; it's not simply a platform for them to spout their own views.
The problem with hiring someone whose ideology is not in line with your own, though, or even someone who doesn't really have a clearly defined one, is that they won't do justice to the views that you want them to express.
Yes, they can attempt to understand where you're coming from and write accordingly, but they will at best miss some of the core reasoning that you want to get across.
At worst, there will be fatal flaws that appear in the work, whether intentionally or not, that subvert the reasoning contained in the work.
The most obvious example of this would be a libertarian hiring a ghost writer.
Libertarians have a very distinct thought pattern.
In most cases, they identify the same problems as everybody else, but the causes and solutions to those problems are entirely different.
Someone who is not well schooled in libertarian philosophy - or worse, someone who is well schooled in it but still does not subscribe to it - will not be able to express libertarian views in the same way that a libertarian would.
To be sure, you and your political ghost writer will never agree on everything, and it is the responsibility of your ghost writer to stick to your views rather than their own.
That's fine and expected.
Even so, if their ideology is similar to your own, they should be able to express your views as you would express them without the substantial bias or lack of understanding that would be present in the writing of someone of a different frame of mind, regardless of how talented that person might be.
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