Contemporary American political culture seems to be dominated by public cynicism and distrust of political institutions, fed by the incivility of many political leaders. He's been wearing the plaid shirt and doing walking tours since his 1978 gubernatorial campaign in Tennessee. Alexander dropped out of the current presidential race in August. Klien says that several lessons can be learned from Alexander's campaign.
Candidates can recast themselves as outsiders.
Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, all career politicians, have done it. Bradley's trying it right now. But because candidates have to be hyperbolic and vigorously bash 'politics as usual,' this translates into spending a lot of money to trash opponents. And that's too bad for us, the public. Klien presented his paper at the November meeting of the National Communication Association.