Setting aside their real differences, what unites Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump is not their alleged populism, but rather their ability to speak to the concerns of people who are suffering under global capitalism.
As the super wealthy reap the rewards of technological innovation, transnational migration and free-trade agreements, workers and students have been rightfully demanding a candidate who will use the presidency to speak and act on their behalf.
Unlike their intra-party competition, Trump and Sanders have stridently opposed NAFTA and the secretive, anti-democratic Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. They have both been critical of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which opened the floodgates of money into politics, effectively allowing the nation’s wealthiest to guide decisions that affect everyone. Sanders and Trump have also both promised to end tax loopholes and breaks for Wall Street hedge-fund managers and financial firms.
These stances, more than xenophobia (on Trump’s side) and male privilege (on Sanders’s side), have won them ardent supporters. The main difference between the two is that Sanders, not Trump, can win the presidency.
To say the very least, Trump’s opposition to marriage equality and his blatant misogyny put him beyond the pale of mainstream opinion. When his poll numbers slide and his so-called charm wears off, it will be time for his supporters to ask themselves a difficult question: do I really want to fight back against a political-economic system that is designed to cheat me?
If your answer is a resounding yes — as I know it is — then you must set party loyalties aside and take control of the situation by voting for Sanders in Minnesota’s open primaries. The only thing you stand to lose is a Hillary Clinton presidency. What you stand to gain is a better life for you and your friends and family.
