Trump/Sanders: The ticket we’ll never see coming.

“I have big, big plans for this country. We are going to start winning again and bring the country together. Look, I united the Republican Party; they said I couldn’t do it, but I did it — I won. And we are going to keep winning and keep uniting. And, we need winners in Congress and in the White House. You voted for me, but some other Republicans, they won’t support me. They aren’t winners. You see? The system is rigged, and we won’t take it anymore. We don’t care about parties, we want to Make America Great Again, am I right? So, I am bringing a winner into the White House. We will replace Obamacare. We will fix immigration. No more tax loopholes for the hedge fund guys. And by the way, my finance guy is a hedge fund guy. He thinks this is great. We are going to do it. We will bring back jobs and Make America Great Again. So today I am announcing that Bernie Sanders has agreed to work with me to get the job done. We made a deal, we are bringing Democrats and Republicans together. This is what we will do in the White House: make deals and win. So let me introduce your future vice president, Bernie Sanders.”

Call me crazy, but if Donald Trump really wants to defeat Hillary Clinton in November and really stick it to the political elite, there is one superior choice for a vice president: Bernie Sanders. Before you tell me that this unprecedented move is impossible and no one would agree to it, let us take a look at the facts.

Fact 1: Donald Trump cares more about winning than he cares about the Republican Party.

Donald Trump is a Republican in name only. Actually, ‘Republican’ is really only a broad label anyway. Trump has been a member of both parties and has registered Independent. He has donated to both Republicans and Democrats. Trump trashed the members, rules, and policies of his current party and even threatened to run as an Independent (not explicitly, but he didn’t “rule it out”) at least twice. In fact, many Republicans in the party don’t even like him (and have refused to support him )— but he is now their presumptive nominee. That said, Trump really wants to win. I would bet that if you told him in 2014 that the DNC would support him as their presidential nominee, he’d have switched parties in a heartbeat. Donald Trump is fiscally conservative but socially liberal, yet he cannot run on an independent ticket — you have to run as one of the two parties to actually win. Blame the media, blame the rules, blame whomever you want, but to win, Trump needed to run as a Republican.

Fact 2: Bernie Sanders cares more about his agenda than he cares about the Democratic Party.

Bernie Sanders has been an independent most of his adult life. Sanders has a very liberal agenda, particularly on social justice and equality. While he caucuses with the Democrats and has joined the Democratic Party to run for the White House, he maintains his Independent affiliation in the Senate and criticizes his own peers on matters in which he does not agree. Sanders makes it a point to fight against the established parties and keep his message above politics and lobbyists. I would bet that he would rather lose hundreds of elections before giving up on his ideals. That said, I believe Bernie Sanders would compromise to further part of his agenda rather than get nothing (more on this opinion later).

Fact 3: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders overlap on some key issues.

Single-payer healthcare. Simplified tax code. Programs to create jobs. Immigration reform. Anti-free trade. No foreign intervention. Increase minimum wage. I would say they disagree in a variety of areas, most notably delivery (Trump has said things), yet one can find similarities, particularly on the social front. Thus far, Trump has had to move right to support his Republican nomination cause (i.e. saying single-payer at a Republican debate is bad politics), and will likely move toward his liberal positions in the general election.

Fact 4: Trump has refrained from criticizing Bernie Sanders (even praised the man).

Of all the people in the 2016 presidential race, no one has escaped Trump wrath more than Bernie Sanders. In fact, Trump has gone as far as to call Sanders a winner. While this is more likely a ploy to try to keep his supporters away from Hillary (and against the DNC), Trump must see that Sanders pulls support from the Democrats and shares his anti-establishment flare. If there is an ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ in this election, Trump and Sanders are definitely on the same side.

The logic is simple: bringing in Sanders helps Trump get more outside-the-party votes and running with Trump allows Sanders to further his agenda via the compromise for Sanders running on the ticket. There are three parts to the electorate: party bases, independents, and non-voters. A Trump/Sanders ticket excels in all three areas. Let’s work backwards:

• Non-voters: Non-voters who feel disenfranchised or voiceless now have a significant way of telling the government that they want something different. Young non-voters, who tend to prefer Sanders, now have a reason to stay passionate and come out to vote.
• Independents: Independents now have a social liberal and a fiscal conservative running together. This blurs the current party lines. If the choice were between an establishment Democrat and unity ticket, I’d wager a majority of independents would go to a Trump/Sanders ticket (independents typically find themselves in the middle, anyway).
• Party base: The bases typically are seldom swayed and will vote along party lines; however, a really good ticket can sometimes pull from one to the other. I won’t say it’s a high percentage, but let’s think about this: Could one see a Democrat voting for a Trump (socially liberal Republican)/Sanders (democratic socialist) ticket? If ideology matches, potentially, particularly if they don’t like Clinton much. Could one see a Republican voting for Hillary Clinton? Not likely. They’d either stay home or vote Trump. I’d wager if you polled Republicans, they’d overwhelmingly take Sanders over Clinton as president (maybe because of honestly, outsider status, or just unfamiliarity).

Of course, all of this assumes Sanders voters can stomach Trump. A CNN poll showed only 10% of Sanders voters would support Trump alone, but what if Sanders were on the ticket and was able to have a say in policy? What if their combined policy was socially liberal and level-headed? Data doesn’t exist on this, but if your candidate was a policy candidate (not a party candidate) and he was able to have an impact, you may reconsider that principled ‘no’.

Let’s add some reasoning/benefits.

• Shock Value. The media would eat this up. The vice-presidential debate would matter. Trump knows the media is the key to the White House — it helped him win the Republican nomination, and if he keeps the spotlight, it will help him keep up in the race. The whole world would be talking about this combination, and Hillary Clinton would barely be able to get airtime.
• Branding. “Vote to bring the country together.” “Unity ticket.” “Anti-establishment, pro-America.” You can make up whatever slogan you want, but bridging the partisan gap, and not just talking about it, would be a big deal. When the president and vice-president are on different teams and they’re working together, everyone else (I’m looking at you Congress) just looks silly.
• Synergy. Trump has brand appeal and a big name, Sanders has the experience. In fact, Trump even mentioned he wanted to choose someone with governing experience to complement him, and while Sanders is not in the Republican party, he isn’t technically in the Democratic party if he loses to Hillary Clinton (he’s still Independent in the Senate).
• Anti-establishment. They both stay on message and stay away from the party lines. People aren’t their political parties, they just don’t have any other option besides D or R.

How would Hillary Clinton respond? It would be hard choose a Republican running mate, particularly after this stunt. Trump and Sanders would target her from both sides, and they are both big enough to be relevant at this juncture. This does not seem like a fair fight, because, well, it would not be. Trump/Sanders would break stereotypes, bring out crowds, and hog airtime. Any rally with Democrats and Republicans would be seen as breaking giant barriers — like sports teams from Boston and New York embracing in Philadelphia. Political analysts would spend countless hours trying to understand the implications. Thousands of articles would discuss Trump/Sanders. News stations would be 24/7 Trump/Sanders stations. If we thought we had heard all we could handle of Trump last year, this would be a new level of obsession.

The last piece of the puzzle: would the candidates agree?

Let’s start with Trump: The alternatives within the Republican party for Trump don’t necessarily help him pull Democrats or Independents. Kasich? Cruz? Rubio? Some other low-profile senator or congressman? These options don’t given him a better chance to win — Trump has already shaken up the Republican party and will take in most of their votes (party-base and some non-voters). Trump will likely want to seem more presidential with a strong figure as his running mate who helps bring in votes from independents and democrats. Many Republican elites don’t necessarily want to be associated with him — if he fails, their career could be at stake. Plus, he’s left a sour taste with many of them; they’re unlikely to vote for him, let alone be his running mate. So, would Trump agree? I think so. Trump wants to improve the country in the way he sees fit, not in the image of a party ideology, but he needs to win first. He’s already pulled a few gambits and broken all the rules, so this decision is not out of character.

Sanders is more difficult to pinpoint, so let’s look at his position. He is in the trailing years of his political career in Congress, and (probably) about to lose the Democratic nomination. If I were him and I had the option between making a small change in Hillary’s positions at the Democratic National Convention and being vice-president, where I get the chance to shake up the establishment, bring the country together, and promote even two or three of my big agenda points, it would be an easy choice. Bernie would do it for single-payer healthcare and reforming the tax code. Trump and Sanders could create bipartisan compromise before the election even took place. If I were Sanders, and Trump made this offer, I would ask for a few concessions and a statement to be publicly made that upon accepting VP, we agreed on X,Y, and Z issues I am for and will make them the front of our campaign.

If I were Trump’s strategist, I would be figuring out a way to make this happen (unless, of course, this is the plan all along, then carry on). There is no better way, and no better time/opportunity than right now, to shake up the American political establishment. Sanders would accomplish his agenda, Trump would win his election, the media would go crazy, and America would have its political revolution. Trump/Sanders: the unity ticket. The winning ticket. All aboard.