Why Do American Politicians Have To Be Rich To Have A Chance?

Tweet

I’ve never understood why so many American politicians are millionaires or even billionaires. Do American voters trust only rich people? Is the idea behind this that someone who has been able to accumulate much personal wealth will also do so for the country and with this for the voters? Or is the idea behind this that a candidate will remain independent if he/she can pay for their campaign themselves? If that were the case, why then do even the richest candidates collect donations? Why are American electoral campaigns so outrageously expensive anyway? Why do American voters need a circus before elections? Just some questions from a European who is looking with bewilderment at what is going on across the pond every five years. German politicians are not rich. We have never had a millionaire in a top position. The Chancellor earns ~9.000 Euro ($10.000 / 7.800 GBP) a month after deductions. They are not corrupt. Sadly, no country on earth is completely free of corruption, but we have never had a political scandal of that kind after WW2. German politicians do not attend elite schools and universities and get into their positions through the help of buddies. To mention some examples: The current Chancellor Angela Merkel is a physicist and worked in research before she became a politician. The former President Joachim Gauck is a pastor. (This does not mean that he delivers sermons to the people. In Germany, sermons are delivered in church, not at public occasions.) The most exotic politician (who would never have a chance in the USA) was certainly Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister/Secretary of State from 1998 to 2005. He dropped out of high school and had many odd jobs, like working in a car factory or driving a taxi. He was active in street fights in the 1970s. He’s married four times - same as former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder with whom he worked together for many years. He was appreciated during his political career and is now an elder statesman. He speaks enviably good English. The former President Gauck has a wife and four children but is separated and has lived with a woman, a journalist, for many years who also accompanied him to official events. Shock, horror? No, not at all. We’re interested in the professional qualities of politicians not in their private lives. German politicians never appear in public with their families. Mrs Merkel’s husband, Prof. Sauer (a professor of chemistry), can only be seen at her side when they attend performances of operas by Richard Wagner in Bayreuth - which isn‘t even every year. Everything is low key here and kind of boring and that’s a good thing*. --- *This is a quote. Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin from 2001 to 2014, once said, “I’m gay and that is a good thing.”