1. If there were justice in the world, the idea that political outsiders are better than political insiders would die a certain, painful, dramatic and ignominious death. Why?
2. Because it just ain’t so.
3. This is not to say that outsiders are failures. Movie star and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had no previous experience in office, and he turned out all right. My point is that outsiders don’t bring much that’s special to the table that insiders don’t.
4. Yet every election year features outsiders wanting to shake the tree, and reporters eating it up. It’s the myth that keeps on living.
5. Obviously, the president plays a role in this. But Donald Trump, in this and every way, is an anomaly. The history of presidential campaigns is studded with the names of c-suite executives believing they could buy their way to the White House.
6. They failed, because it takes more than wealth to win. It takes a base of power. Yet, despite empirical reality, this myth endures. Expect to see more "outsiders."
7. It doesn’t take a billionaire to be an outsider. Consider Matthew Corey, a Hartford small-business owner. He’s one of those perennial candidates, always running against someone, it doesn’t matter who, as long as opponents are Democrats.
8. Corey fancies himself a regular Joe, an everyman type, educated at the School of Hard Knocks. “To have somebody down there (in Washington) to represent the state of Connecticut that has never worked in the private sector his entire life ...
9. Corey: ... "the only thing he has ever done is run for political office,” Corey told a reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media. “How could he possibly know the struggles that the American people are facing?”
10. He’s talking about Chris Murphy, who was a state legislator and then a 5th District congressman before becoming one of our U.S. senators. Corey enters the Republican primary in August for the right to challenge Murphy.
11. That’s another deathless myth: that elected officials, not being in private employ, don’t get regular people on account of their being elected officials.
12. Let me tell you something: people elected to statewide office are in statewide office because they understand voters. You can’t win without understanding your constituents’ joys, fears and sorrows. More importantly, you can’t win unless you face people you disagree with.
13. Case in point: Chris Murphy once again embarked on his walking tour of the state. He’s been trekking through ever city and small town. Along the way, he encounters Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.
14. This includes Trump devotees enraged by Murphy’s stance on immigration. So let’s be honest: Most people who work in the private sector wouldn’t do that, because they don’t have to. Most people avoid conflict. Politicians don’t.
15. “Insider” can take on malicious overtones, as it did with Hillary Clinton. “Insider” was a way of saying without saying in public that a respected and accomplished woman can’t be trusted with presidential power.
16. @SusanForCT is no Hillary Clinton, obviously, but I sense the former Connecticut secretary of the state faces similar prejudice.
17. The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to Bysiewicz, who is now in the running for lieutenant governor, is eye rolling at her reputation for running “brutal campaigns against competitors,” according to one report.
18. Men are uniformly praised for being competitive. Women, however, are called something else.
19. Outsiders are overrated while insiders are underrated. Yes, there is good reason to be skeptical of anyone who has spent a lifetime running for office, but that should be the case for anyone who desires power, wherever they come from.
20. Insiders, especially those courting or serving large constituencies, are equipped with knowledge and skills you can’t learn in the private sector. And that’s a good thing. Again, the myth of the political outside should die. Will it?
Probably not.
Probably not.
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