Senator Bernie Sanders over the course of this year has managed to take himself from unknown Senator from Vermont to a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination.   Jeb Bush is quite the opposite, the former Governor of Florida, who was considered a front-runner when he announced his campaign, is now all but down and out.  Let’s dive in further to see why Bernie has taken the country by storm and how Jeb has allowed the media to dictate his every move.

Bernie Sanders is the other side of the same coin as Donald Trump.  His campaign is focused on speaking to the issues and not pandering to the demands of the establishment.  By opposing the agendas set by the media conglomerates, he has been able to develop a strong group of supporters, especially in the youngest demographic of voters.  On his Twitter and Facebook, his voice is very strong and consistent with messages about how we can fix our country.

I voted against the USA Patriot Act and will continue to do all that I can to prevent us from moving toward and Orwellian society.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 2, 2015

This has forced the media to shift the discussion to focus on the issues that Sen. Sanders is passionate about, thus using his influence to set the agenda for the democratic campaign.  Senator Sanders speaks to every issue that concerns him, and does not fear about any stigma it might have, and in fact the stigma with the issues he raises causes the media to pay attention to these issues.

Jeb Bush, on the other hand, has allowed the media’s influence to dictate how he controls his message both on and off social media.  Rather than use his social media to outline his beliefs and plans for the future, he focuses on his past record as Governor of Florida and pushes his willingness to cut taxes as one of his main talking points.  Other than talking about tax reform, all we have to go on about Jeb is anecdotal information about how he is a good leader.

One of the most recent moves by the Bush campaign was to change their slogan from Jeb! to #Jebcanfixit, in most likely an effort to capture some similar momentum as #feelthebern.  Unfortunately for the Bush campaign, this hashtag has just brought out all of the internet trolls.

My marriage #JebCanFixIt ?

— rob delaney (@robdelaney) November 2, 2015

With this recent attempt to rebrand his online presence, he is saying that he is not going to change his campaign, but a complete overhaul of how he is operating speaks to the contrary.  Jeb has to find a new voice in order to clearly communicate his message and not rely on personal testaments and use hard facts every step of the way.  The 2016 election has been shaped by the likes of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, people are looking for honesty and transparency rather than the promises of tax reform and good leadership with little more than rehearsed talking points.

With the primary season about to start, the real test for each of the candidates and their respective platforms begin.  Do you #feelthebern or do you think #jebcanfixit?