Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

10/29/10

What's the appeal of an outsider in the first place? When you need surgery, do you want it done by a professional, or by someone that watched a few episodes of House or ER and thinks they can do better? Do you want your taxes done by a kid with a paper route or by an accountant? Why would we trust something as complicated as the federal government to amateurs? It's true that anyone can grow up to become president, but that doesn't mean that anyone can do the job.

Let's take a look at some of the outsiders running this year. We talked yesterday about the problems faced by the most celebrated outsider of this election cycle, Christine O'Donnell. In addition to holding some unorthodox views, her inexperience in the world of politics has left her unprepared to handle the media, and she's going to lose by a wide margin. Her counterpart in Nevada, Sharron Angle, is running as an outsider despite her 7 years in the State Assembly and her unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2006. She has been a professional politician for the last 12 years, but that hasn't stopped her from positioning herself as an outsider.

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Nevada also features former state Senator Joe Heck running for Congress as an outsider, even though he has been involved in professional politics since 2004. His Opponent, Congresswoman Dina Titus, is aware of how strong the pro-outsider sentiment is this year. She made it a point to refer to him as Senator Heck repeatedly in their final debate, after asking the moderator to just call her Dina. Current polls show them running neck and neck in a district that had been trending Democrat until this year.

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Florida and Alaska both have an interesting twist on the outsider story. In Florida, Republican Governor Charlie Crist entered the Republican primary for Senator as the establishment favorite, but after it became clear that he was going to lose by double digits to Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio, he dropped out and entered the Senate race as an Independent. He's currently running second in a 3 man race, but if enough Democrats decide to vote for him instead of wasting their vote on Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek, it could become a very tight race. Rubio is also running as an outsider, although he has picked up more support from establishment Republicans than either O'Donnell or Angle. However he has served in the state legislature since 2000 and was the Speaker of the House for 2 years, and prior to that held local elected office. In Alaska, the establishment candidate for the Republican nomination, Lisa Murkowski, lost her primary to another Tea Party favorite, Joe Miller. Murkowski, the incumbent in the race, has mounted a write in candidacy. Current polls show her running neck and neck with Miller, while Democrat Scott McAdams is trailing well behind. Miller is probably the closest thing to a legitimate outsider with a shot at winning this cycle. He ran for statewide office in 2004 after winning the Republican primary, but lost in the general election. His other connection to professional politics is serving as the attorney for the equivalent of a county government, a non elected position. However, his inexperience is hurting him some and he took a beating in the press after security guards working for his campaign handcuffed and detained a reporter.

In Kentucky the son of long time Congressman Ron Paul, Randy ''Rand'' Paul, beat out establishment candidate Trey Grayson for the Republican Senate nomination. Even with a recent dip in popularity due to some media scrutiny of some college pranks, he is cruising to an easy victory. This is Rand's first foray into politics as a candidate, but he's been an active part of his father's campaigns and inner circle for years. He ran his primary campaign as the consummate outsider none the less, holding a fundraising event using the theme of a UFC fight between ''we the people'' and ''Washington insiders'', but after securing the nomination he took several million dollars of donations from the same insiders he railed against in his primary fundraisers. He also withdrew a pledge not to take any money from lobbyists or Senators who voted for the bailout, claiming that it only applied to the primary campaign.

Join us on Monday when we'll look at what happens when ''outsiders'' become insiders and consider what government might look like in the wake of the Tea Party.