Candidates: I’m an outsider, too

Suddenly it seems everyone is an “outsider.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the son of a former president and brother to another, says he’s never lived in Washington and doesn’t know his way around the city.

Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says he’s leaving the Senate because he’s grown tired of “the political establishment in Washington, D.C.,” adding that voters should stop “electing the same people.”

{mosads}Chris Christie declared, “I’m an outsider every morning I get up,” noting his status as the Republican governor of deep-blue New Jersey.

Even Hillary Clinton, who has been a U.S. senator, secretary of State, and is married to former President Bill Clinton, is seeking to position herself as a political renegade.

“I cannot imagine anyone being more of an outsider than the first woman president,” she said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

The rush to embrace the “outsider” mantle highlights the depths to which anti-establishment sentiment has penetrated both parties this election cycle.

The phenomenon appears especially strong on the Republican side, where Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina are all benefitting from their status as newcomers to politics.

“The one truism in politics right now is that anything that smacks of Washington is not going to be very popular with American voters, regardless of party,” said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee communications director.

One of the biggest surprises of the 2016 race has been the strength of the political neophytes.

Real estate mogul Trump has bull-rushed his way to the top of the Republican polls. As an independently wealthy businessman, he is running as a say-anything candidate who isn’t beholden to anyone.

Carson, a soft-spoken former neurosurgeon, has followed Trump to the top of the polls. He’s connected with conservative voters on the strength of his inspirational story about rising from poverty to become the world’s foremost brain surgeon.

Businesswoman Fiorina is seeing a surge of support as well. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO has also never held political office, having fallen short in her bid for California Senate in 2010.

In addition, many credit the rise of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) to frustration with the status quo. Sanders has spent more than two decades in Congress, but is viewed by many as a protest candidate channeling the frustrations of the left.

With voters viewing experience as a liability, many of the candidates are rushing to distance themselves from Washington.

“People are not satisfied with politics as usual,” said Susan MacManus, a professor of politics at the University of South Florida. “Having a well-known name or having held political office are seen as politics as usual, and right now, voters are migrating towards those with experience in sectors other than the government.”

Republicans say the biggest beneficiary of the emerging dynamic among the office-holding candidates is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

At a conservative forum last week, Cruz blasted his rivals for adopting his anti-establishment message.

“That’s great, you’re adopting rhetoric today against Washington,” Cruz said. “If you want to be an outsider, fabulous. Show me where you stood and fought against career politicians in both parties.”

In his brief time in Congress, Cruz has repeatedly gummed up the works while fighting for conservative causes. On the campaign trail, he frequently attacks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“Cruz is the master of this,” said Republican strategist David Payne.

“He never misses a chance to take his congressional allies to task for not fighting hard enough. He’s the genuine insider that can credibly portray himself as an outsider.”

Political watchers don’t expect any of the other current or former office-holders to make the outsider case central to their campaigns.

They noted that experienced government officials risk looking silly if they do, and point to the failed candidacy of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who dropped out of the race on Monday.

Walker launched his campaign as a conservative fighter who had taken on public sector unions and survived a recall election.

But as Trump rose in the polls, Walker sought to reboot, arguing he was deserving of the outsider attention that was being showered on others.

Critics gleefully rebutted that the 47-year-old first ran for office at 22 and was first elected at the age of 25.

“That was not a credible claim,” said Marquette University Law School pollster Charles Franklin. “It was ludicrous.”

“These longtime elected officials, rather than claiming outsider status, need to zero in on an element in their records where they did something revolutionary,” Franklin said. “Walker couldn’t have fought the unions if he wasn’t in government.”
 
Strategists say the presidential hopefuls have to be careful not to run too far from their records.

“We have a history of electing skilled politicians, and that polish will serve some of these candidates well,” Payne said.

“Be yourself. Let your opponents come to you.”