Ever notice how all politicians seem to come from humble beginnings? Y’know — the modest, hard-working, blue-collar or even poor kind? There are more farm laborer, factory worker, inner city stories on the campaign trail than you can shake a stick at. That’s because pols know that the less well-off they seem, the more relatable they’ll seem to the average American.

These narratives, while affiliated with the truth, present candidates with a down-to-earth kind of spirit. Hey — would you rather have a beer with a wealthy attorney or the Southern son of a mill worker?

John Edwards opted to characterize himself as the latter during his presidential run, although he was worth much more than his textile working pa by the time made his bid.

Emphasizing your upbringing is one strategy. Another is the Hillary Clinton method: gloss over your personal wealth by talking about the hard times you’ve faced. Perhaps you’ve seen Clinton’s quote about being “dead broke” making the media rounds?

Talking about wealth as a wealthy politician (the Clintons are worth millions, BTW) can be tricky. For further reference, see Mitt Romney on the campaign trail two years ago. But it’s nothing new.

Marketplace’s David Weinberg reported today on how far back this practice might go:

The economic disparity between the common man and the politician is as old as democracy itself. In 64 BC when Cicero was running for consul of the Roman Republic, his brother is believed to have written what could be called the first electioneering handbook.

And that handbook advised political hopefuls “to pretend on this day that you are the equal of everyone else,” says Brown University political scientist Alex Gourevitch.

Does it really matter that politicians are so much better off than most of the people they are charged with representing? Nicolas Carnes, author of “White Collar Government: The Hidden Roles of Class in Economic Policy” says:

What I find is that, yeah it really does matter. Politicians who don’t have experience doing working class jobs really do think differently, vote differently, introduce different kinds of legislation than the very few politicians who do know what it’s like to be a blue collar worker.

Carnes says that the average member of Congress spent 1.5 % of his pre-Congress career working in manual labor or service industry jobs — a percentage that has changed little over the last 100 years.

Talk to us:

Does it matter to you when politicians downplay their wealth? Can rich elected officials effectively serve the middle and lower classes?

Listen:

David Weinberg’s full story on how politicians talk about wealth can be found here.

Keep reading:

In case you’re curious, New Republic created a list of the least wealthy Congressional representatives in early 2014. At the bottom of the list? A Tennessee Republican worth a mere $470,000.