We're all suckers for the outsiders and underdogs in political races. We all know them -- the candidates who don't already occupy an elected office, who seek to break into the system instead of merely moving up in it. They threaten elected coups, promising to move into office and shake things up like only an outsider can.

And so we meet Michael Brown, the self-styled outsider of the District's mayoral contest. Tall, well-dressed, bald-headed and quick to crack a smile, Brown seems to relish the opportunity to take on the three of his five opponents that currently serve on the D.C. Council -- Adrian Fenty, Linda Cropp, and Vincent Orange. "When you're on the council, you're perceived as part of the problem," he told DCist in a recent interview. And to bolster his case, he notes that history has sided with the outsider more often that not in District mayoral races -- "Of four mayors," Brown notes, "only one came from the council."

And even though Brown has so far been out-fundraised -- a January 31 filing showed he had raised $106,978, substantially less than his insider competition -- he doesn't see this as a liability. Brown proudly states that when he announced his candidacy, he did so by travelling to all eight wards using public transportation, and has since knocked on doors and stood outside the Anacostia Metro station at night to meet voters. "We've become the grassroots community campaign," he tells us.

But how far can Brown go as an outsider? Will voters respond to his calls for City Hall to be cleaned out, or will they instead rely on seasoned political operatives like Fenty, Cropp, or Orange to take over where D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has left the city?

It's probably good to start by saying that Brown is only an outsider in relative terms. He's a lobbyist; served on the D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission; acted as Finance Vice Chair for the Democratic National Committee and surrogate speaker for the Clinton-Gore, Gore-Lieberman, and Kerry-Edwards campaigns; and is the son of the late Ron Brown, who served as Secretary of Commerce in Bill Clinton's first term. But he does think of the issues he is focusing on less as matters of legislation or existing policy than as principles and problems that someone needs to be able to speak of and speak to. In that, he is an outsider.

Brown argues that he stands apart from his competitors in that he's willing to talk about the big issues the others won't -- the "two pink elephants in the room," as he likes to call them. He claims that the city is too quickly spending itself into worse debt and that a crisis exists in the city's African-American youth. On the former, Brown observes, "Today may be rosy, but that doesn't mean five years from now will be." On the latter, he notes, "We have to compete with hip hop messages in what's defining success." And beyond those two issues, he quickly works his way through the many issues that are fast defining the election -- affordable housing (he advocates private-public partnerships to allow for the construction of mixed income housing), schools (he's looking to value the land used by schools and refinance them), the new hospital (he opposes anything but a full-service public hospital), Metro (a better regional approach to public transportation has to be figured out, with D.C. as its core), and statehood (he would build better bridges between the District government and Congress).

What may most distinguish Brown from the pack is his focus on African-American youth. In talking about the state of education in the city, Brown made it clear to DCist that the issue encompasses parent involvement and the value of an education as much as it does adequate facilities and well-trained teachers. Along with learning to value an education and what it could get them, Brown notes, "Young people need to respect authority." While this may sound like a stretch, it shows that Brown is willing to discuss both what government can offer its residents and what its residents have to offer back. And as part of his focus on youth, Brown is hosting a Go-Go Summit today, billed as "the first in a series of community-based issue discussions focused on youth concerns and solutions."

What Brown has hit on is that being a member of the council carries as many risks as it does assets. For as much as Cropp can promote her long legislative history or leadership as council chair, she faces an army of opponents digging through her record to find inconsistencies and policies gone wrong. Fenty and Orange face the same risk, and together the three council-members turned mayoral hopefuls may spend enough time tearing at each other to allow Brown and fellow outsiders Marie Johns and David John Bloem space to better promote themselves. And with a city that quickly tired with the council after a painfully long battle over baseball -- on which Brown claims he would have negotiated differently, and one which he criticizes for taking up too much of the council's time as other issues languished -- voters may not see council experience as something to be terribly proud of.

But then again, Brown's outsider tag may have limited appeal. His ideas are limited to a few general themes, as he has yet to flush out some of the details of his bigger proposals. And while he may be able to criticize some of the insider candidates for one reason or another, they are more likely to be able to both articulate ideas and the means to achieve them. Brown, for all his fiery rhetoric as an outsider, has ideas, but may not know exactly how to turn them into reality. It is here where council experience may pay off. Once the race gets closer to the September 12 Democratic primary, voters may be asking for more details and less principles.

Until then, Brown seems to be savoring the experience. Whether walking the streets, delivering his signature yellow yard signs, or sitting in his sparsely decorated office at the corner of New York Avenue and Seventh Street, NW (which served as Williams' re-election office in 2002), Brown is enjoying the campaign. Being an outsider has its merits, though soon enough Brown will have to make sure he has enough money to spread his message far and wide. In the end, getting inside isn't cheap.

This is the first in a series of interviews with the people running for office in the District. Next week we'll be talking to A. Scott Bolden, candidate for an At Large seat on the D.C. Council. If you're a candidate or a candidate's staffer and would like to set up an interview with DCist, send me an email at martin (at) dcist (dot) com.