Srila Prabhupada on Mundane Politics

"Saintly persons are not interested in political matters, yet they are always thinking of the welfare of the people in general. Consequently they sometimes have to come down to the political field and take steps to correct the misguided government or royalty. 

However, in Kali-yuga, saintly persons are not as powerful as they previously were. They used to be able to burn any sinful man to ashes by virtue of their spiritual prowess. Now saintly persons have no such power due to the influence of the age of Kali. Indeed, the brahmanas do not even have the power to perform sacrifices in which animals are put into a fire to attain a new life. 

Under these circumstances, instead of actively taking part in politics, saintly persons should engage in chanting the maha-mantra, Hare Krishna. By the grace of Lord Caitanya, by simply chanting this Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the general populace can derive all benefits without political implications."

Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.14.12

[PADA: Srila Prabhupada once chastised a devotee who was carrying a "Time Magazine" telling that devotee, "Simply seeing the faces of these politicians is sinful activity." So its a little amazing that some "Krishna devotees" seem to be totally immersed in discussing the politics of the current USA presidential race, and posting photos of these politicians. Meanwhile, many other devotees are posting many other mundane items such as -- alleged chemtrails conspiracy, 9/11 conspiracy, and so on and so forth. 

Srila Prabhupada said that those devotees who get involved with these mundane activities BECOME IMPLICATED (i.e. contaminated). OK a devotee should have some idea of what is going on in the world, but he should not become infatuated with these programs, or it will impact one's consciousness. 

At the same time, its also a little strange that so many "Krishna devotees" will spend all sorts of time trying to rectify the politics of modern society, but those same devotees will spend little or no time trying to rectify the Krishna society, which is the main priority issue especially for a person claiming to be a devotee of Krishna. ys pd]