Un "outsider" est-il bon pour un parti? Le cas de Zachary Taylor (1848)

Pour l'élection présidentielle Donald Trump et Bernie Sanders, chacune à sa façon, sont des candidats de l'extérieur de la machine du parti, des "outsiders". Ils provoquent des remous et forcent leur formation politique à considérer des changements. Ce topo de Politico rappelle la sélection de Zachary Taylor par les "Whigs" en 1848, une expérience difficile pour la formation. Peut-on tirer des leçons de cet épisode?

 "A look back at what happened that year is eye-opening—and offers warnings for those on both sides of the aisle. Democrats quick to dismiss Trump should beware: Taylor parlayed his outsider appeal to defeat Lewis Cass, an experienced former Cabinet secretary and senator. But Republicans should beware, too: Taylor is often ranked as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history—and, more seriously, the Whig Party never recovered from his victory. In fact, just a few years after Taylor was elected under the Whig banner, the party dissolved—undermined by the divisions that caused Taylor’s nomination in the first place, and also by the loss of faith that followed it."

  http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/06/history-campaign-politics-zachary-taylor-killed-whigs-political-party-213935