Two Sides Of The Same Coin In Both Primaries
Trump and Bernie are two sides of the same populist coin.
I have said for months now that Trump and Sanders are two sides of the same coin running in two different primaries, and have tailored their messages for those electorates. Apparently Ben Shapiro agrees with me, and highlights how they are so similar.
Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Trump is a billionaire businessman while Sanders is a career politician. Trump’s personal favorability is the lowest of all candidates while Sanders’ is the highest. How are they the same? Policy.
Both men represent the electorate’s desire for a powerful authority figure to fix everything using the power of government. They represent a reaction to the culture of the New York to Washington DC Acela corridor.
Trump and Sanders are both anti-establishment candidates who bash Wall Street, see trade as a zero sum game at which America is losing, want to do away with Obamacare in favor of a more universal system, and have pledged not to touch Medicare and Social Security. Trump has run on the basis of a uniquely strict anti-illegal immigration policy, Sanders has historically opposed immigration on the basis of driving down American wages. Both men opposed the Iraq War, and want to leave international threats to other players in the world.
The public’s reaction to these populists show a lack of understanding of our nation’s guiding principles. Neither candidate (nor their supporters) ever talks about the proper role of government; rather, how they’ll increase its power to use it for their own purposes. Trump and Sanders are not beholden to laws, the Constitution, checks and balances etc. and their supporters want it that way.
They are both overwhelmingly supported by the Participation Trophy Generation (of which I am a member) whom apparently are in want of a monarch. The lack of education on American principles is evident in the massive support for both candidates. A big slice of the electorate embraces vague promises and pronouncements as though they were real policy. And they do so without the least knowledge of what the impact of those promises and pronouncements would really mean if implemented. It actually isn’t about governing or legislating, but about feeling good.
Trump’s supporters know he won’t change the nature of corrupt government (his supporters’ label), but he will be the singular authoritarian solution to the problems of their lives. They believe it takes a power broker to stop the power brokers.
Sanders’ supporters also object to corrupt government (his supporters’ label), but their answer is more government. They think the government is bought and paid for by outside parties, and they want an “honest”, democratic socialist dictator type in charge to clean house.
None Of It Makes Any Sense
Both followers hate “the establishment” but yet both Trump and Sanders are members. Trumo is the quintessential establishment personality. He is a billionaire playboy who wines and dines with the establishment, is liked by the establishment, will do deals with the establishment, has given money to the establishment, can’t make any money without the establishment, and owes billions to the establishment.
Ed Krayewski notes how Sanders joined a political party he was critical of for decades for fundraising and data acquisition purposes. Sanders caucuses with Democrats and has not faced a Democratic opponent in a general election since Larry Drown in 2004. Sanders and Clinton voted the same way 93 percent of the time.
More importantly, despite Sanders’ rhetoric, he has had more money spent on him by Super PACs than any other Democratic candidate this cycle, with the super PAC for just one labor union spending nearly $1 million so far. These unions represent part of the Democratic establishment as much as any of the endorsers Clinton has collected. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling permitted labor unions as well as companies to spend on political campaigning.
Unfortunately, one accomplishes nothing when they best fools. Those who do not understand history are doomed to repeat it, but those who do understand history are doomed to sit helplessly and watch as others repeat it. Not this liberal-progressive. The greatest irony is in liberals voting for redistributive principles of Sanders, but are outraged when delegates get redistributed. Is anyone paying attention to what’s happening, or is it just emotion and feelings?
