TRUMP AND SANDERS: THE NOT SO ODD COUPLE

TRUMP AND SANDERS: THE NOT SO ODD COUPLE

By:

LeRoy Goldman

February 29, 2016

Back in 2011 Mike Tower, a good friend and then op-ed columnist for the Hendersonville Times- News, and I founded CAPAU, Citizens Against Politics As Usual. We believed, and still believe, that the Democratic and Republican parties are corrupt. We hoped that CAPAU would ignite a grassroots movement to bring about urgently necessary political reform in America. We were wrong.

That CAPAU was stillborn had nothing to do with the fact that Mike and I were right in knowing that politics in Washington no longer served the American people. And now the fat's in the fire.

The political establishment in Washington now confronts its worst nightmare. It has lost control of its ability to manipulate you and me. That is the controlling reality of the 2016 election.

But wait, some of you will say. This ferment has without doubt taken control of the Republican contest, but Hillary Clinton, the Democrat's establishment candidate, is now on her way to the nomination. After all, she defeated insurgent Bernie Sanders in Nevada and overwhelmed him in South Carolina. On March 1st it's likely she will win most of the SEC primaries by running up huge margins among African-American and female voters. Her campaign would have you believe her nomination and election in November is in the bag. Maybe, maybe not.

Most voters would agree that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are mirror opposites. One is a brash, trash talking billionaire who operates in capitalism's fast lane in Midtown Manhattan. The other is a subdued, polite speaking Socialist turned Democrat from rural Vermont. Those differences, while real, miss what's really important, their similarity.

Both are insurgents who have successfully tapped into immense voter anger. Both are infusing the political process with new voters. Many Trump voters are people who have not voted in years because they have been turned off by Washington. Many Sanders voters are young people who have never voted before, and are energized by Sanders' call for reform.

In 2016 the number of Republicans voting in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina was 20% higher than it was in 2012. The increase for the Democrats, while substantial, is harder to quantify because Obama was unopposed in 2012.

The political class in Washington can't comprehend why Trump can be so offensive and yet keep winning. Moreover, many of them continue to believe that Trump will self destruct. Perhaps, but I doubt it. About 70% of the American people, including large numbers of Democrats, believe America is in decline. Trump not only gives voice to that despair, he promises to end it. Trump's bombastic message is an undeniable and alluring message of hope.

If the Conventions nominate Trump and Clinton, fasten your seat belt. The central dynamic of the Fall campaign will be change versus same old, same old. What Donald Trump will unleash on Hillary Clinton will make his assaults on Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz look tame by comparison. With either Marco Rubio or John Kasich as his running mate his, we're going to take back our country message, may well add more purple to the Electoral College map.

Finally, Hillary's clear road to the nomination, singularly dependent on African-American block voting, is not certain. Bernie Sanders will not go quietly into the night. He has ignited a movement, and he knows it. He's got plenty of cash, a message that resonates with millions of dispossessed Americans, and, most importantly, he may be the beneficiary of the joker in the deck this Spring. The joker's name is, FBI.

The FBI investigation into all that surrounds Clinton, her private email server, and possible breaches of national security is on the way. FBI Director James Comey will not permit politics to taint the investigation. An adverse finding against Clinton will destroy her, and Bernie knows it. Stay tuned.

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