Pro-Hillary Senator Claire McCaskill and Trump advocate Roger Stone made headlines for comparing Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders. "Both these candidates are outsiders, both these candidates are non-establishment candidates," Stone told CNN. "The same anger and frustration by the voters that's propelling Trump is also propelling Sanders."
McCaskill agreed when she appeared on CNN the same day, "People are really aggravated at the government right now," she said. "There are a lot of people that are just going 'Really? You guy's can't get anything done? All you do is fight.'"
While anger and frustration with the status quo may be driving both candidates' soaring poll numbers, Trump and Sanders are certainly not two peas in a pod. When it comes to articulating clear policy proposals, Sanders excels while Trump hasn't even bothered trying. When asked for more details on policy proposals, Trump's campaign manager told The John Fredericks Show "we're waiting, you know, for our schedule." And, Trump himself answered a question about policy proposal simply assuring a reporter, "You'll be happy, you'll be very happy."
In contrast, Sanders has not shied away from any discussion of policy. While Hillary Clinton has refused to articulate a position on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sanders has spoken out eschewing the pipeline's harmful effects on the environment and carefully outlined his other policy proposals.
Unlike Trump who refers to his critics as "losers," Sanders has only bashed his main opponent for refusing to articulate her position on the pipeline. Otherwise, he steers clear of slander recently telling ABC News' Jonathan Karl, "I'm not going to be engaging in personal attacks against her. She and I disagree on many issues. The American people want a serious debate about serious issues, not personal attacks."
Stone also pointed out that neither Sanders, nor Trump can be bought through donations. While Sanders has been campaigning against the Citizens United decision that allows big money to play a major role in politics, Trump argues he doesn't need the money. He can pay for the whole campaign himself, which may be one of the many key differences between Sanders and Trump. While Trump plans on buying himself the GOP nomination, Sanders is trying to keep the billionaire class from significantly altering the course of democratic politics. In fact, Trump embodies everything Sanders has crusaded against -- the pervasive influence of personal wealth on politics, the exacerbation of income inequality and an overly hawkish attitude towards foreign policy.
In sum, the most substantive similarity between these two candidates may be their New York accents.