Writing at the New York Times, The Root's contributing editor Jack White proffers the argument that while enormous wealth may inoculate some politicians from the bald-faced greed that has landed so many public officials in prison, they tend to be out of touch with the electorate.
… But it is just as likely to infect them with an even more pernicious condition: a bloated sense of entitlement that isolates them from the concerns of ordinary people.
Case in point: Mitt Romney, whose decisive loss to the comparatively impecunious Barack Obama came as close as we are likely to get to a national referendum on the fitness of fat cats for high political office. Stripped down to its essentials, Romney’s argument for why he should be entrusted with — make that, entitled to — the nation’s highest office was that he is very, very rich. But as Romney's denunciation of the 47 percent who "believe the government has a responsibility to care for them" to a roomful of equally self-satisfied plutocrats clearly demonstrated, having that much money can trap politicians in a feedback-free bubble, which can mean that their certitude about themselves or their ideas is never really challenged.
Read Jack White's entire piece at the New York Times.
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is a former columnist for TIME magazine and a regular contributor to The Root.