To be honest, no I never observed anyone using any kind of "politics" to gain an appointment. What I observed instead, were men who developed this characteristic long after they had been an elder for a while. I was never an elder, but I was a MS for a while. From what I saw, most of the elders were genuinely concerned about being good shepherds. Even though some were incompitent, and a couple of them behaved like high-chair tyrants, most of them were humble, decent men.
When it came to Elder / C.O. relationships however, I did see a desire by some to strive for extra favor and approval from the C.O. at the expense of integrity and basic ethics. For many elders, traveling overseers seem to represent a piece of the organizational power and prestige. If an elder could strive to garner extra approval (translation=kiss his ass), they seemed to feel that they were blessed with greater esteem and personal importance than those who didn't. It's like the juvenille behavior one would see in an episode of "Saved By the Bell".