In that poll, 52% of respondents said they preferred an outsider candidate while 25% said they preferred an insider candidate.
“They include towering figures like George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower,” writes Rakich. “The one commander-in-chief who was elected without any political or military experience? That would be the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.”
Rakich did not include third-party or independent candidates, such as Ross Perot, with no political experience. And there are rarely outsider options for voters. Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz might run in the same way Perot did in 1992.
Schultz said at a recent CNN town hall that he is still mulling a presidential bid in 2020, considering a run as a “centrist independent.” This idea has sparked outrage from Democrats, who worry an independent candidacy could split the anti-Trump vote and pave the way for his re-election.
While respondents to the Monmouth poll said they want someone who isn’t a political insider, the same poll showed political experience is also viewed as a positive for a candidate for congressional candidate. The same poll showed 61% of Americans said it’s a very or somewhat positive quality.
So while Americans seem to like the phrase “political outsider” (or dislike “political insider”), they still want their candidates to have some experience in the political arena.
In general, more Democrats valued political experience (75% very or somewhat positive quality) than Republicans (58%) or independents (53%).
While that may seem high, it’s the lowest rated quality on the provided list of qualities for candidates, following things like “has a good chance of beating Donald Trump” (49% extremely important) and “has the right experience to be president” (39%).
Democrats’ opinions on being an insider haven’t changed much since 2015, when Trump was just entering politics. According to a Quinnipiac poll in September, 2015, 81% of Democrats would prefer a candidate to serve in Washington who had experience versus someone who was an outsider (15%). Republicans felt differently; 23% wanted someone with Washington experience and 72% wanted an outsider, somewhat predictive of their future embrace of Trump.
Source : CNN