When Political Outsiders Like Sharron Angle Play Inside Baseball

I have never admired political candidates who play the game of bashing those ‘inside the beltway’ or the ‘Washington insiders’.  I think it more a sign of lacking creativity or mental heft when a candidate chooses to run as ‘an outsider’.  The whole notion of beating up or demeaning those who serve the public through a governmental role makes no sense to me.   It is a truly lazy and unimaginative way to run a race. 

The message that government is evil and corrupt is one that admittedly plays to a certain demographic.  While I understand the politics of it on the one hand,  I find it deplorable for what it does for the process and the nation.  Instead of educating citizens on the role of government these candidates are more interested in tearing and ripping down the process that in the end we all need; a process which makes our society better.  Those voters that these candidates are playing to are the same ones who bash teachers at the dinner table and then wonder why their kids have no respect for authority in the classroom.   In all cases you get out what you put in.

Striving to be pedestrian may make for primary victories in some states, but as we are now learning (again) even those who bluster against the political establishment are the first to see the need for the insiders to help them out.  That is why I say it is a game for these types of candidates.  They are playing both sides.  They know that the trained professionals are required for a successful outcome, and that the elected establishment is needed to win tough races.  Everyone is aware of the sham that these candidates try to pull by beating up on the very ones who they will ultimately need.  Everyone that is except for the less educated voters, including the teabaggers, who get suckered in.

Sharron Angle won the Republican nomination for a Senate seat from Nevada largely because she wasn’t the choice of people like Sen. John Cornyn, the Texan who coordinates the GOP’s Senate campaigns.

But on Tuesday, Ms. Angle, who surged to victory on an anti-establishment message, is scheduled to meet with Mr. Cornyn in Washington to discuss how they can work together. On Wednesday, she will appear at a weekly meeting hosted by Americans for Tax Reform, a long-standing gathering point for conservatives from Congress, the GOP and lobbying and activist groups.

In winning his Senate nomination, Kentucky ophthalmologist Rand Paul defied the GOP hierarchy, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who backed another candidate. Now, he is appearing at a June 24 fund-raiser hosted by Mr. McConnell in Washington.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Joe Sestak took on Washington party leaders, including President Barack Obama, in winning the Pennsylvania nomination over Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.). Now he, too, is working with Democrats’ Senate campaign operation in Washington.

The candidates’ critics are seeking to make political hay out of these newfound alliances. “Sharron Angle has long been railing against the establishment” but is now “courting their support,” said Jon Summers, a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid (D., Nev.). Ms. Angle’s campaign did not return calls for comment.