With the Republican presidential nomination now secured by Donald Trump, all eyes are on the Democratic primary campaign. While Hillary Clinton has all but assured herself a victory, Bernie Sanders and his supporters remain engaged and fighting for every last vote.
Preventing Clinton from turning her focus to Trump is proving costly, as it has dragged her down in the polls to a point where Donald Trump is now slightly ahead. What is not yet being included in these numbers, however, is the fact that one in five Sanders supporters currently state they will vote for Donald Trump in the general election.
While numbers can change all the time, Sanders supporters may be the individuals who determine the outcome of this election, so understanding why the move to Trump from a candidate who is further on the left than Hillary remains essential.
Trump and Sanders Share Many Similarities
When comparing the two candidates, many of the ideologies differ, often drastically. When one is a stated socialist, there are only going to be a handful of policy connections shared by the two.
However, in principal, Trump and Sanders do have many similarities. Both rely mostly on self-financing and small donations. Neither of the two individuals receive the kind of major financial influx from a major donor, such as a Hilary Clinton.
Both Trump and Sanders have pointed to this as a major problem within politics today. Without large financial donations from major corporations, neither Trump nor Sanders feel responsible to help pass laws desired by the major donation providers.
However, probably the most important connection between Trump and Sanders is the two are seen as political outsiders, looking to shake up the establishment. An establishment shakeup is something voters have wanted for some time now.
Bernie Sanders is, by definition a career politician. However, while a Democrat, he has often turned against many of the norms of his own party, instead voting on what he believed to be right, not just along party lines.
Trump, of course, is not a politician by trade. He is a business owner, and while previously ran for president for a short period of time, nothing connects him specifically to the Republican establishment. This is what connects Sanders and Trump together more than anything else.
Even With Connections, Why Support Trump
In a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, 20 percent of Sanders supporters said they would vote for Trump while another 14 percent said they would abstain from voting all together.
In fact, just 66 percent of those supporting Sanders said they would support Clinton (88 percent of Clinton supporters said they would support Sanders, if he were to win the party nomination).
Beyond this, in maybe even more startling news and numbers, The Guardian polled 700 Sanders supporters and 500 of the supporters stated they would vote for Trump over Clinton.
So Why the Support?
So why, exactly, would Sanders supporters vote for Trump? While there are some general connections between the two, what would force someone who supports a far left candidate with Donald Trump? Several of those polled stated both Bernie and Trump share similar ideas on the Iraq war, campaign finance, trade and healthcare.
The Sanders supporters pointed out that Trump is also, like Sanders, a political outsider and understands international business. Job creation is important to Sanders supporters, many of whom believe it would be more of a priority to Trump than Clinton, who most Sanders supporters see as an extension of the current Obama administration.
Potentially most damaging to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton is the Democratic Party itself. While general election delegates are close, the political establishment has pushed the election into Clinton’s hands.
This has made many of the Sanders supporters feel disingenuous towards the party, as if their vote doesn’t matter. So, they are looking to turn away from a political party that has abandoned them, and as Trump is a political outsider, they see him as a better option.
Donald Trump Capitalizing
In an interview with MSNBC, Donald Trump came out in support of several of Bernie Sanders’ ideas. He even stated in his interview that “Bernie Sanders has a message that’s interesting…I’m going to be taking a lot of the things Bernie said and use them.”
Since it became apparent Trump would win the Republican nomination, he has softened his speech regarding many Conservative based ideas in order to present himself as an attractive, or at least more attractive option to Bernie supporters who are looking for someone other than Clinton to vote for.
