You’d think we political types would know better by now. The most important thing I learned managing Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential race was that the old political norms were dead. Experts and pundits’ predictions were often no more than guesses based on the way things used to be. Media groupthink only made these outdated and misguided notions more stubborn.

Am I the only one who was embarrassed enough at missing the 2016 political movement that elected Donald Trump that I rethought my approach to modern politics?…

It isn’t policy positions that draw voters to Messrs. Sanders and Trump. It’s their perceived authenticity. At a time when almost no person or institution is above reproach, the electorate craves someone who tells it like it is. From government to churches and from universities to Wall Street, many Americans feel let down and lied to. You can’t even trust baseball anymore. So listening to someone give you the raw, unvarnished truth is very appealing.