Could Democrats have a true outsider candidate?

[Mister Mets]

Could Democrats have a true outsider candidate, someone who hasn't served in the traditional offices that lead to presidential nominees (Governor, Senator, US Cabinet) in the next few presidential cycles? If so, is there anyone who fits the profile and can be their Donald Trump/ Ben Carson/ Herman Cain?

It doesn't have to be someone who wins the nomination, but breaking 15 percent in primary polls is enough.

Are there factors within the party that could prevent this from happening? Is there more respect for elected officeholders in the Democratic party, which gives outsiders less of an advantage?

[Mister Mets]

If a city has several congressional districts, I'd consider the mayor to be the equivalent of a Governor.

The most credible outsider Democrats have had in the last 20+ years has been Wesley Clark, but Generals had run for President before.

But there could be a Democratic outsider candidate from a smaller city. Cory Booker had a ridiculously high profile for the mayor of the 68th largest city in the US. Something like that could happen again.

[Kingpoleon]

You mean Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton-outsider style?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I could see a Silicon Valley-type making a run for the nomination, but they wouldn't win it. The trouble is that most persons outside of politics who have the ability to make a credible bid for the presidency are wealthy businesspersons, and Democrats are very suspicious of millionaires-turned-politicians.

[Thunderbird is the word]

Maybe Nick Hanaur?

[Sumner 1868]

Could Democrats have a true outsider candidate, someone who hasn't served in the traditional offices that lead to presidential nominees (Governor, Senator, US Cabinet) in the next few presidential cycles? If so, is there anyone who fits the profile and can be their Donald Trump/ Ben Carson/ Herman Cain?

It doesn't have to be someone who wins the nomination, but breaking 15 percent in primary polls is enough.

Are there factors within the party that could prevent this from happening? Is there more respect for elected officeholders in the Democratic party, which gives outsiders less of an advantage?

Basically. The Democratic Party prior to the counterculture was dominated by city bosses extremely resistant to change. Bryan waltzed around that barrier, but after that they picked establishment candidates until the fall of the bosses led to George McGovern.

McGovern's blowout defeat greatly discredited the idea that a candidate outside the establishment  was electable. Carter was able to run as an outsider in the immediate post-Watergate political chaos, but his 1980 defeat reinforced the notion outsiders were a liability. Since then, they have gone look for "respectable" candidates who have some connection to Washington and big money. Clinton and Obama certainly spoke like they were outsiders, but they had developed solid ties to finance long before their campaigns.

Worse, many of the groups that started out in the 1970s as genuine activist causes have become bloated PAC's as resistant to change as the party bosses they toppled. It would take a drastic change for an outsider to receive the Democratic nomination in this environment.

[I support Sanders]

Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard Law professor who has never held office before.

[Mister Mets]

Looking at Trump and Carson's numbers, I wonder if outsiders have an advantage in that they can be wrong in ways to appeal to the types of voters who send out bullsh**t chain letters/ facebook memes that have debunked by snopes. Statewide officeholders are less likely to do that since they'll have enough background knowledge to know why certain things are impossible, as well as staffers who'd know better.

Could Democrats have a true outsider candidate, someone who hasn't served in the traditional offices that lead to presidential nominees (Governor, Senator, US Cabinet) in the next few presidential cycles? If so, is there anyone who fits the profile and can be their Donald Trump/ Ben Carson/ Herman Cain?

It doesn't have to be someone who wins the nomination, but breaking 15 percent in primary polls is enough.

Are there factors within the party that could prevent this from happening? Is there more respect for elected officeholders in the Democratic party, which gives outsiders less of an advantage?

Basically. The Democratic Party prior to the counterculture was dominated by city bosses extremely resistant to change. Bryan waltzed around that barrier, but after that they picked establishment candidates until the fall of the bosses led to George McGovern.

McGovern's blowout defeat greatly discredited the idea that a candidate outside the establishment  was electable. Carter was able to run as an outsider in the immediate post-Watergate political chaos, but his 1980 defeat reinforced the notion outsiders were a liability. Since then, they have gone look for "respectable" candidates who have some connection to Washington and big money. Clinton and Obama certainly spoke like they were outsiders, but they had developed solid ties to finance long before their campaigns.

Worse, many of the groups that started out in the 1970s as genuine activist causes have become bloated PAC's as resistant to change as the party bosses they toppled. It would take a drastic change for an outsider to receive the Democratic nomination in this environment.

McGovern was a Senator. Carter was chairman of the 1974 Democratic campaign committee. For the purposes of this discussion, they're insiders.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Maybe celebrities. Actors, singers and the like are very good at playing the media (trump is a good example), normally have public goodwill, can self fund and generate their own publicity. It's very common for celebs to run in some parts of the world, like South India and the Philippines. Hollywood is also known as a liberal bastion, so there is not a shortage of potential candidates.

[President Johnson]

Bill Gates?

[henster]

People have mentioned Sheryl Sandberg several times for office, there was some rumors she might run for CA-SEN awhile back.

[MK]

So basically George Soros?

[bagelman]

So basically George Soros?

He would be quite an outsider, a billionaire running for the party of the working man.

Kinda like a billionaire running on the most economically populist platform within his party to appeal to blue collars.

[KingSweden]

The ideological factors that make outsiders, or the appearance of being an outsider, appeal to Republicans don't exist within the Democratic Party to nearly the same extent.

[henster]

So basically George Soros?

He would be quite an outsider, a billionaire running for the party of the working man.

Kinda like a billionaire running on the most economically populist platform within his party to appeal to blue collars.

Tom Wolf fits that category mostly, although he's not a billionaire he is quite wealthy and had appeal with many blue collar types with a populist message.