‘Everyone runs as Mr. Smith’: How a trip to Washington changed U.S. politics

In the 70 years since “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” debuted at the box office, protagonist Jefferson Smith — played by Jimmy Stewart — has served as an icon in American politics.

Candidates try to portray themselves as being in the mold of Smith. They are honest, they say. They want to fight graft in Washington. And they are “outsiders” who are not part of corrupt political machinery.

“People are always looking for something new. Everyone wants to be an outsider,” said CNN political correspondent Candy Crowley. “Everyone runs as Mr. Smith.”

Crowley appeared on a panel Friday afternoon after a screening of “Mr. Smith” as part of the Virginia Film Festival.

Also on the panel were Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics; Maria DiBattista, a Princeton professor and author of “Fast-Talking Dames,” which is about women starring in the screwball comedies of the ’30s and ’40s; and Liza Mundy, a Washington Post reporter who penned an article about “Mr. Smith” and its modern political heirs.

Mundy said that political newcomers are often compared to Smith, whether that description is apt or not. President Ronald Reagan intentionally sought to portray himself as Smith, she said. More recently, commentators often mentioned Smith during last year’s campaign when discussing President Barack Obama or GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

“Both liberals and conservatives try to appropriate this persona,” Mundy said.

Even former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich compared himself to Smith during a corruption probe, portraying himself as a principled outsider targeted by a corrupt legislature that wanted to halt his work on behalf of poor Illinois residents, Mundy said.

Sabato said he was hard pressed to come up with many legitimate inheritors to Smith’s story. Yet one that stands out, he said, is U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

Like Smith, Bennet was an appointee to the legislature, having been tapped for the Senate seat after Ken Salazar stepped down to become secretary of the interior.

Prior to taking office, Bennet was serving as superintendent of Denver’s public school system.

Now, of course, Bennet has launched a full-blown re-election campaign and has already raised $3.6 million in contributions.

“He’s an insider now after what? A year?” Sabato said. “Becoming a professional politician doesn’t take long.”

Sabato counts “Mr. Smith” as one of his favorite films, but he stipulated at the panel that he dislikes the way the film portrays all establishment politicians as greedy, dishonest and corrupt. The vast majority of politicians are working hard to make life better for their constituents. The relatively small number of corrupt politicians, however, tends to garner the most attention.

“Everybody thinks they’re a bunch of crooks,” he said. “No, they’re not. There’s corrupt professors and dentists and journalists, too.”