Guest Post by Monty Pelerin
Political outsiders are the new thing in national politics. Outsiders dominate early polling in the Republican presidential primary. This phenomenon reflects also in the Democrat Party where Bernie Sanders, not a Democrat, is showing unexpected strength.
Why this phenomenon is happening and whether it can continue is perplexing the pundit class. As part of the Washington establishment they are too close to the problem to understand. Thus far they and establishment politicians have underestimated the political support of the outsiders. The elites believe that some strange anger is coming from “fly-over” country. The rubes, racists and other Neanderthals living outside of Washington are considered too dumb to understand the complexities and nuances understood and only manageable by the elite.
This hissy-fit interpretation is likely invalid. The punditocracy considers the infatuation temporary. Before the parties choose their proper candidates, it is expected to be a footnote to the election. However the strength of the outsiders seems to be growing, not receding. Are we witnessing a real movement or just a fad? Is this the incipient version of a peasants-with-pitchforks movement in American politics? Time will provide an answer to these questions.
As the movement has gained strength, some doubts have begun among the intelligentsia. For now, some have shifted their focus to why this movement is happening. If it were only Donald Trump it would be easy to dismiss it as the cult of personality. Those most likely to believe such a theory would be the first to not see that it was just such madness that gave us our current messiah-in-chief. A Trump win is more plausible than an Obama win. Trump brings history, experience and accomplishments. Obama brought nothing but history and that he hid from the voters.
Ben Carson is closer to the Obama model except he has a goodness about him that Obama never conveyed. Yet Dr. Carson has limited managerial experience. Operating on the undersized brains of the political class is experience not needed unless Dr. Carson has discovered a way to do brain transplants on a large scale. Ostrich brains might be an improvement.
Continue reading “Political Outsiders — The Coming Explosion”
