Why Sanders defeats Trump, but Trump defeats Clinton

Dear Friends,

The title of this post is the title of an article on The Hill  (here) by H.A. Goodman.  The first paragraph of the article is a great summary:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) currently leads Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump by 4 percentage points more than Hillary Clinton does, according to RealClearPolitics. However, while the polls have Clinton over Trump now, it's Sanders who represents the best chance for a Democrat to beat the reality star. The Vermont senator is the worst nightmare for a GOP challenger, primarily because his value system is the antithesis of Republican stances on war, foreign policy, Wall Street and the economy.

The article goes on to discuss the well known baggage that comes with Secretary Clinton as well as the fact that Trump and Clinton both have close ties to Wall Street and have similar views on some issues.  One of his major points is that to defeat Trump, the Democrats have to present the exact opposite of Trump and that is Bernie Sanders.

On the other hand, Sanders isn't linked to scandal, he's vehemently against billionaires controlling politics, and his brand of democratic socialism serves as a stark contrast to Trump's brash billionaire persona. Everything Sanders warns about is personified by Trump; billionaires in politics, Republicans and Democrats uniting to coddle Wall Street, a rigged economic system, etc.

As we saw in the last Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton is not in favor of breaking up the big banks that are too big to fail, she is not in favor of reinstating Glass-Steagall, and she does not speak forcefully about taxing Wall Street and billionaires as Sanders does.

The article concludes

Ultimately, the only hope for Democrats beating Donald Trump is Bernie Sanders. He's honest and brings tremendous enthusiasm to progressives and he's raising more than enough money, without a super-PAC, to win the presidency... He experienced a greater boost in the polls than Clinton after the debate, so Democrats are rallying around the Vermont senator even as loyal supporters defend Clinton at all costs. When given the choice between Sanders or Clinton, Trump and the GOP would choose Clinton and her scandals over an energized base of progressives championing a Sanders presidency.

The more people see and hear Bernie and his ideas and positions, the more they like him.  His support will continue to grow particularly among new voters.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal