Spotlight: Outsider candidates slam politicians amid prevailing anti-establishment sentiment

Republican presidential candidates on Wednesday scrambled to stand out among a crowded Republican field by tapping into the prevailing anti-politician sentiment in the 2016 election cycle.

"I'll tell you why people are supporting outsiders," said Carly Fiorina, former CEO of computing giant Hewlett-Packard who was added to the second primary debate stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California after her poll number spiked in the weeks after the first debate in August.

Distancing herself from the majority of candidates on stage, including five former or incumbent governors and three senators, Fiorina threw punches at her rivals, accusing them of failing to do anything about a government "so inept and so corrupt."

"You know what happens when someone has been in a system their whole life?" she said. "They don't know how broken the system is."

Blasting politicians as only addressing issues by solutions "politically expedient", retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, the runner-up of the Republican field, attributed his entering the race to concerns about a dysfunctional Washington.

"That (politically expedient solution) is not the reason that I have gotten into this thing. I am extraordinarily concerned about the direction of this country," said Carson.

"I don't want to get into describing who is a politician and who is not a politician, but I think the people have already made that decision for themselves and will continue to do so," Carson added.

Since the outset of their announcement of a White House run, the cohort of candidates with politican background, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz, attempted to portray themselves as a Washington outsider.

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday also continued his attacking lines by saying that the majority of fellow candidates fell prey to big money in politics.

"A lot of money was raised by a lot of different people that are standing up here. And the donors, the special interests, the lobbyists have very strong power over these people," said the billionaire developer who insisted that he had turned down donations from powerful donors and funded his campaign on his own money.

While most Republican candidates had struggled this summer in the Republican primary race, with anemic poll numbers standing at single digit, Trump, Carson and Fiorina, all with outsider status, thrived in national polls.

According to the ABC News/ Washington Post poll released on Monday, 33 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now favor Trump for nomination, with 20 percent for Carson.

By Contrast, Bush, who used to lead the crowded Republican field at 21 percent in March, crumpled to 8 percent.

In another poll released on Wednesday, the trio of outsiders now stand atop others in the key early nominating state of New Hampshire.

The surge of the three outsider candidates in the Republican field reflects what polls have revealed as public frustration toward hardened politicians, especially among Republican voters.

According to the ABC/Post poll, among Republicans and Republican leaning-independents, only 36 percent choose political experience over outsider status with 60 percent preferring an outsider to lead the country.

By contrast, among leaned Democrats, 69 percent prefer experience to outsider status.

In the much smaller Democratic field, the anti-establishment sentiment also helps Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the poll number, but only to a less extent.

According to the ABC/Post poll, Sanders has so far gained 10 points since July to 24 percent, while the Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's support dropped by a third to 42 percent.

However, the slump in poll numbers for Clinton is less likely a result of anti-establishment sentiment than the mounting controversy around Clinton's email practices.

The poll said that 55 percent of Americans disapprove if Clinton's handling of the issue, 54 percent think she has tried to cover it up and 51 percent think she broke federal regulations by using a private email setup while serving as the top diplomat of the country.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also garnered 21 percent of support despite his recent hesitation about launching a presidency bid.

However, the poll said if Biden doesn't run, most of his support will move to Clinton, not Sanders. Endi