I was reading recently about Senator Byron Dorgan’s retirement, and the article claimed that he had been in politics for 40 years. I looked up his biography on his official site and on Wikipedia, and both confirmed the 40 year figure. Dorgan worked in business for 2-3 years, and then became State Tax Commissioner at age 26, and has been an elected official ever since.
Then this weekend’s NY Times magazine had a long piece on the GOP’s moderate vs. Tea Party battle, as personified by the race in Florida between Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio. It turns out that Rubio has never done anything but hold elective office, serving as a West Miami city commissioner right out of law school.
Dorgan and Rubio might be great legislators — I don’t know enough about either of them to judge — but doesn’t it seem like we should want our politicians to have lived in the real world? Think of all the things we regular folks have to do: hunt for jobs, worry about insurance, cooperate with coworkers we hate, shop for cars, get things done at work, etc. Career politicians don’t have to do any of that stuff. They never need to execute and accomplish, and they get rewarded for being obstinate. They stop worrying about money, since they get to pay their family as “consultants” out of campaign funds. And they have staff to take care of life’s little details.
I’m not expecting our politicians to follow the lead of Cincinnatus, who left his farm to run Rome, and then returned to his farm. But maybe some experience in the real world, not the political world, would get our legislators to work — WORK — on policy, instead of spending all their time posturing and campaigning.
Thoughtbasket 
Teddy Roosevelt was largely a career politician, but I think he was different because he was a polymath of the highest order. He lived his passions mainly in the political arena, but he was also many other things, including an author, cowboy, soldier, explorer and sportsman. He was no dilettante, rather he excelled at all of these things.
He might have been the exception that proved the rule that work experience outside of politics is desirable for a lawmaker. I don’t think we really need a professional ruling class.
yes! real jobs for all!
I agree. Too many politicians are out of touch with the real world… Yet they make decisions on it, I recently talked about a topic related to this on my blog. Personally I think most politicians are a disgrace:
http://wp.me/pZm5e-5