There are many unusual things about the 2016 election, but here are two that seem particularly telling about the anti-institutionalism of our current political moment.

First, for the first time in modern polling history we go into the general election with two candidates whose unfavorable ratings far exceed their favorable ratings.

Second, one of those candidates (Donald Trump) has never held elected office, and when asked to do standard candidate things (like, say, disclose his tax returns), his surrogates reasonably posit that “people are judging Donald Trump as to whether or not he’s someone that’s going to go to Washington and shake things up. And that’s why he’s doing so well.”

This may or may not be a winning argument, but it does speak to our times. People are so fed up with the status quo that it is at least plausible.

As they say: “time will tell”