A Trump-Sanders Ticket Would Be The Ultimate Political Disruption

If Sanders were to even hint that he would consider the opportunity to be Trump's VP, it would be the ultimate disruption to the political status quo that both the Sanders and Trump campaigns have sought from the start.
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Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump should take a pause before announcing a vice presidential running-mate and pounce on the chance of considering the perfect yin-yang VP: independent Bernie Sanders.

Sure Sanders half-halfheartedly endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, but Sanders knows that in all "movements" or "revolutions", rules are broken and a few feelings get hurt. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a politician retracted an endorsement and for Sanders it would mean re-gaining those supporters he just lost on Tuesday for being a "sell-out."

The polls say VPs don't matter in a presidential race and the rules of conventional political wisdom say you can't pick a VP from the opposing party.

So how have polls and conventional political wisdom been working out this past year?

The idea of Trump picking Sanders as VP isn't far-fetched. After all, everyone's favorite president Republican Abraham Lincoln chose Democrat Andrew Johnson to be his second vice presidential running mate as a way to unite the nation following the Civil War. Though that political experiment ended dreadfully, it was a precedent set by a Republican choosing a Democratic that Trump could justifiably tap.

Remember, Sanders isn't really a Democrat, he's an independent and the Democratic Party tried every dirty trick they could think of to make him go away. The fact that he hasn't gone away -- and neither have his 13 million supporters -- says something about his "revolution" and the fact he understands the Democratic party simply patronized him because they hoped to sway his supporters to flock to Clinton.

And Clinton needed an endorsement from Sanders to mute her corporate lawyer candidate image and give some credibility to the milk-toast policies she's selling.

But swaying Sanders' supporters to vote for Hillary Clinton?

President Obama got voted into office using campaign promises made to environmental, anti-war and social justice groups which he never fulfilled and Sanders' supporters are not likely to forget that when it comes time to vote for -- what amounts to -- a continuation of Obama's policies.

A June Bloomberg Politics national poll -- taken before Bill Clinton's meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the subsequent "no charges" over Hillary's State Department emails -- found nearly half of Sanders' supporters don't support Clinton.

In fact, many of Sanders' progressive supporters -- like the majority of Trump's conservative supporters -- are in the "anybody but Clinton" camp.

And that means anybody.

Sanders' basic message of eliminating corrupt government; cutting-off Wall Street and corporate political money; stopping bad trade deals; and not rushing into the next "nation building" war have more in common with Trump's populist movement then they do with Clinton's Democratic party.

Both the Sanders and Trump candidacies have tapped voter's revulsion for government dysfunction, corruption and a "rigged system."

Sanders and Trump are in favor of rebuilding America's infrastructure; both have called Hillary Clinton "unqualified" for the White House; and both have argued the U.S. contributes too much to NATO.

And both understand the U.S. government's monthly job numbers don't reflect any semblance of economic reality.

Trump knows he has these common threads with Sanders and his calls for Sanders' supporters to join him reflects that.

A Trump-Sanders campaign would not only continue both of their historic disruptions to the status quo political machine, it would be the ultimate yin-yang political partnership if Trump could set his ego aside and truly delegate management of issues that are Sanders' strong points and tap Sanders' governing experience.

For example, VP Sanders would certainly do more for environmental and sustainable energy issues then Clinton will ever do as president if Trump would simply give him the delegated space.

More importantly, a Trump-Sanders partnership means we don't have to endure another lawyer-president following the lead of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama giving speeches from the White House that sound good but are so riddled with slick legalese they actually say and commit to nothing.

Having Trump name Sanders his VP pick would be the ultimate poke-in-the-eye of both the Democratic and Republican Party -- the two status quo parties which have reacted to both these candidates with fear and loathing.

Even the idea that any of Sanders' major policy ideas would actually become part of the Democratic Party platform was a cruel joke perpetuated by the media right up to the time it didn't happen. When the dust cleared, the Democratic Party's platform committee rejected several of Sanders' most important proposals, including opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, declaring a national fracking moratorium and a call to end Israel's illegal settlements. Even the platform's climate change position is ambiguous in ensuring "federal actions don't 'significantly exacerbate' global warming."

Significantly exacerbate? Put three lawyers in a room and ask them to define "significantly exacerbate" and you'll get 11 answers.

And though Sanders' supporters had vowed to take the fight to the floor of the convention in Philadelphia where the platform will be subject to a delegate vote, the Clinton endorsement by Sanders could take the wind out of the sails of those who now see Sanders as part of the rigged system.

Worse, even if the party platform was amended it's still not binding so Clinton as president can cherry-pick what to support and what to ignore while Sanders stands on the sideline.

Sanders and Trump owe nothing to their respective political party elites: The Democratic Party made sure independents could not vote during the primary in some states to prevent Sanders from denying Clinton the prearranged acceptance of the presidential tiara, and the Republican Party is still trying to figure out how to dump Trump.

If Sanders were to even hint that he would consider the opportunity to be Trump's VP, it would be the ultimate disruption to the political status quo that both the Sanders and Trump campaigns have sought from the start.

Trump has already put the brakes on the Bush political dynasty, and with the help of Sanders they both could do the same for the "too-big-to-jail" Clinton dynasty.

At the very least, it would be great to see Sanders stand up at the Democratic convention, withdraw his endorsement of Clinton, and tell his supporters to vote for only the non-incumbents -- both Republican and Democratic -- in November's local and congressional elections to truly bring real change to a rigged system.

That would continue Sanders' revolution no mater who becomes the next president.

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