Thread by @TheValuesVoter

Let me start out by saying that I think Sanders is a decent person and Trump is not.

But with that difference aside, I'm going to point out the similarities between the Trump political playbook and the Sanders playbook. There are a number of distinct similarities.
#SuperTuesday.

RULE #1: PROMISE SOMETHING BIG

Hone in on something that is bothering people that no one is addressing. Make a big, bold, totally unrealistic promise to do something about it. People will want to believe it and so the details don't really matter.

If you are Trump, pandering to whites who have a problem with the nation's changing demographics while running as a Republican, you promise a big beautiful wall. What will the wall accomplish? Everything! It will stop brown people from crossing the border. It'll stop drugs too!

If you are Sanders, pandering to people who have been economically disadvantaged and concerned about health care and you're running for the Democratic Nomination, you promise Medicare For All? What will it fix? It'll fix everything, silly! What are you, stupid?

RULE #2: PICK AN ENEMY

No politician without firm plans or a talent for getting things done can succeed without having an enemy. Every good guy has to have a bad guy. And the key here is to pick an enemy which your people hate enough to be motivated by.

If you're Trump, the enemy is obvious. Pick somebody who is either brown, a Democrat or a Republican who still has principles. Can't go wrong. They're the enemy! And they're the reason you don't have the things that you want. Which, for SOME Trump supporters, is a whiter country.

Trump also picks as enemies foreign countries, US companies that make things in foreign countries (except for those which make his Trump branded shirts and ties) and the ever-amorphous system. The system responsible for all of his supporters' problems. Which he alone can fix.

If you're Sanders, the enemy is Billionaires. Big Banks. Wall Street. They're the ones responsible for the problems his supporters face. Sanders may have a talent for picking less sympathetic enemies in the eyes of many, but the strategy is the same. You have to OPPOSE someone.

RULE 3: RESIST ANSWERING HARD QUESTIONS

What happened when people challenged Trump about his claim that Mexico would pay for the magical Wall? He would indignantly cut off the reporters with "EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!" And he got away with never really explaining much.

Sanders does similarly although, again, he's a much better person than Trump and does it less offensively. But he still often brushes off with irritation the rare attempts reporters make to get below-the-surface details.

Sanders and Trump are not the same person and, like I said, Sanders is a decent guy. But there are a good number of similarities in their approaches to running for President.

One other part of Rule #1 is the need to ignore alternative solutions. The idea proposed is supposed to be the ONLY WAY in existence to solve the stated problem.

Experts proposed the idea of having a Virtual Border Wall instead of the big, beautiful Wall. Would be cheaper and more effective. Trump thought that was absurd. It HAS to be a Wall!!

Every other Democratic candidate has proposed other options for providing health insurance to the uninsured. All less expensive and more likely to actually happen. Sanders scoffs at it. It HAS to be #MedicareForAll. It just has to be!