Richert: What About Herman Cain?

In the same way that “compromise” has become a dirty word in American politics, the phrase “career politician” has little currency with some voters. About half of the 87 first-term U.S. House Republicans have never held elected office before. The problem with that, seven-term U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson says, is that successful business executives often have the hardest time adjusting to the complex and byzantine world of Capitol Hill politics. “It is frustrating to those people,” Simpson told the Statesman editorial board this week. “Our system of government was never meant to get anything done.” That observation prompted me to ask Simpson about the latest flavor of the month in the GOP presidential derby: the campaign of Herman Cain (pictured in AP file photo) . The former Godfather’s Pizza executive has become a front-runner for the nomination, partly because of his attention-getting (but unimplementable) 9-9-9 income tax and national sales tax gimmick/ Kevin Richert, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Why is this country so fascinated with non-politicians who aspire to become politicians?