Everyone has a tendency to flatter wealthy people because the truth is that they're hoping, consciously or subconsciously, they'll get a dispensation from them somewhere down the line: a sale, a gift, or some other kind of benefit from association with a powerful individual. Unfortunately, it appears that many wealthy people forget this and begin to believe that they actually are just brilliant and special and that must be why they get a lot of attention.
This is in no way exclusive to Americans. In fact, from my admittedly limited experience, this is much more explicit in other cultures.
Politics is a totally different ball game. You basically must be wealthy to be successful in national politics (not necessarily in the Trump or Clinton stratospheres, but still need significant personal wealth and resources), and this is also the case in not-America as far as I can tell.
I'm not familiar with the politics in that area, but I would say this holds true even if the state has provided accommodation for anyone to run a competitive campaign regardless of the private resources they have available.
The talking point of "Would you rather trust someone who can't get promoted past a mid-level position in his company to play with the big boys, or someone who has managed his life such that he is in charge of things and has been able to accumulate vast personal resources?" is always going to be persuasive, IMO. "If he can't manage his own affairs..." and all that.
It's not an absolute non-starter, but I'm skeptical that any "regular Joe" would be elected for a significant national position as long as there are people who are massively more wealthy willing to compete (and there will be).
I don't know why you got downvoted, but your assumption isn't really true. In the Nordics many of the Members of Parliament have a working-class background, such as a nurse or a sawyer, with little personal wealth.
I don't have any data to back this up, but I have a feeling people tend to vote the same class as they are, with a hope that a similar candidate is better suited to understand their concerns. A working-class member would be very, very wary of voting anyone with wealth.
This is of course made possible with a true multi-party system. A businessman is a rare sight indeed within the ranks of (true) left-wing party.
This is in no way exclusive to Americans. In fact, from my admittedly limited experience, this is much more explicit in other cultures.
Politics is a totally different ball game. You basically must be wealthy to be successful in national politics (not necessarily in the Trump or Clinton stratospheres, but still need significant personal wealth and resources), and this is also the case in not-America as far as I can tell.