Political outsiders trying to gain presidential traction

The names Herman Cain, Alan Keyes, Wesley Clark and Steve Forbes are ringing bells, right? But what about Morry Taylor or Fred Karger?

All have been political outsiders who have run for president and their ranks are growing with the 2016 race. While New York businessman Donald Trump, also a novice to elected office, may be consuming all the campaign oxygen at the moment, there are two other Republican outsiders trying to gain attention for their long-shot bid.

Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a native of Detroit, and California businesswoman Carly Fiorina have never held public office, but want to claim the highest in the land. If history is any guide, they won't last long in the 2016 election cycle.

"Being someone like Carly Fiorina and running a business, telling employees what you want done doesn't always work the same way as politics," said Donna Hoffman, head of the political science department at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. "Politics is about compromise and that is something that outsider politicians don't always understand."

There have been plenty of presidential hopefuls running for the nation's top job who have never held a political office, but few have won the presidency. And those who have were war heroes, such as Dwight Eisenhower, fresh off battlefield victories.

The current group of outsiders can't point to military success, but they are emphasizing their outsider status.

Fiorina declares in a video on her website: "Our founders never intended us to have a professional political class. They believed that citizens and leaders needed to step forward. We know the only way to reimagine our government is to reimagine who is leading it."

And Carson revels in his status as someone who is not constrained by the need to tiptoe around controversial issues.

"I'm not politically correct because I'm not a politician. I don't want to be a politician," he said in announcing his candidacy in Detroit in May.

It's a message that has such appeal that it's helped Trump rocket to the top of Republican polls.

"If you're an outsider, the value of your message is that you're not a politician, and Americans have made it a national past time to bash politicians," Hoffman said.

While Trump and Carson are both faring well enough in polls to qualify for Thursday's opening debate, history provides many cautionary tales about the long-term prospects for political outsiders who seek the White House.

Pizza magnate Herman Cain, a Tea Party favorite, captured some early attention when he sought the 2012 Republican nomination and even won a few straw polls before suspending his campaign a month before the Iowa caucuses. Fred Karger, a California political consultant with no elective office experience, stayed in the 2012 race much longer in the hopes of spreading a more moderate Republican message.

"I was the first openly gay candidate from a major political party, and I really wanted to make a difference and help turn the country around," he said. "I knew it was an extreme long shot, but I just wanted a place at the table."

After spending $500,000 of his own money and raising another $85,000, Karger got nearly 11,000 votes in the five states — Michigan, North Carolina, Maryland, California and New Hampshire — and Puerto Rico where he competed. Even though he was unsuccessful, the experience was life changing.

"I heard from so many people who have told me how my running affected their lives," he said. "They realized that they can be accepted and there's an opening to be able to do whatever you want to do."

In 2000 (as well as in 1996 and 2008), Republican diplomat Alan Keyes made waves, finishing third in Iowa and second in Utah before fading away. And in 2004, retired Army general Wesley Clark led early, winning the Oklahoma Democratic primary and tying for third in New Hampshire, before withdrawing and endorsing John Kerry.

In 1996, Morry "The Grizz" Taylor was the longest of long shots. The CEO got in after a bruising negotiation with striking unions at Titan International, the Illinois tire and wheel manufacturing company he was purchasing.

"I was yelling at them, asking 'Why do you always support the Democrats?' and then I found out that half of them didn't vote," Taylor said. "It's always the elites, the politicians who try to tell you what's best for everybody. So that union guy said to me, 'Why don't you run?'"

And he did, spending more than $6.5 million of his own money to get about 7,000 votes.

"I thought, I'll probably get my brains kicked in, but I stood up to big unions and everybody thought, as long as I don't embarrass the company, I should do it," he said. "I didn't get a lot of votes, but I did the debates and it was the most exciting thing I ever did for a half a year."

But what's the motivation?

"They know they have very little chance," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "But maybe they can get picked up for vice president or a Cabinet position, or get a book contract or sign up for a radio show," he said.

"You have to consider the fact that they're smart enough to know they may get a consolation prize," he added.

But they're also not used to political handlers, messaging or the need to raise millions to be heard, a process Karger called akin to "panhandling."

And this year, the Trump factor is hurting not only the top-tier candidates, but the other outsiders as well. Traveling the 99 counties of Iowa for that first-in-the-nation caucus bump, which both Carson and Fiorina have been doing, goes only so far.

"The average person, if they know anything, it's Hillary and Trump and maybe Jeb Bush," Sabato said. "Nobody outside the political community is keeping up with 22 candidates."

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