I have rejected the idea that Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders are similar in any way, but now I know that I have been wrong. Both Sanders and Trump are political loose cannons. Their respective campaigns have a common theme; I will harm my own party in my pursuit of the presidency.
At first, I really believed that Sanders would run an historically clean campaign. And to Sanders’ credit, for most of the election season he has kept his word. But as he realizes that the fun is over and that Clinton will be the nominee, Sanders has become more like your crotchety uncle. The uncle that all the children avoid at barbecues because he is always in a bad mood or simply hates kids. I get that Bernie does not want to relinquish his campaign, who would? You are getting the constant adulation of tens of thousands of voters on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis.
Bernie has done a lot for the Democratic Party by exciting the youth vote. As he would say with “huge” turnout across the nation. Democrats truly owe Sanders a debt of gratitude. But now Sanders has said that Clinton needs to earn the support of those that support him. Really? Sanders is not going to simply support Clinton because he lost to her? That is what makes Sanders and Trump the same; Sanders does not care that he may be hobbling Clinton in the general election. That’s not being a Democrat. Democrats rally around their nominee because the alternative is not acceptable. Bernie, if you are a Democrat then you know it is time to put down your flag, support Clinton, and implore your followers to do the same.
And then there’s Trump. We all know that Trump is the ultimate narcissist, when he stands in front of a crowd and says “I’m really attractive,” that is true narcissism. Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. Sound familiar?
Trump’s narcissism trumps everything, pun intended. Trump does not care about how his words may hurt his “adopted” Republican Party in the general election. Forget about party unity, Trump wakes up every day, looks in the mirror and thinks “today it is all about me.”
Sanders won’t quit because it is all about him. Trump won’t tone down his rhetoric because it is about him. In the end, isn’t the result the same? Hobbling one’s own party because you are a freewheeling loose cannon. May be fun for the cannon but not so much for the party.
Stampp Corbin
Publisher
San Diego LGBT Weekly
