At the Democratic convention last week, I experienced an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu. Emblazoned across the arena was the rallying cry of the Hillary Clinton campaign — “Stronger Together”. It was a depressing reminder of “Stronger In,” — the slogan of the losing Remain campaign in Britain’s referendum on EU membership.
This similarity is more than an unfortunate coincidence. I would point to three parallels between Brexit and the Trump phenomenon that should worry the Clinton campaign. The first is the potency of immigration as an issue. The second is the way in which the Trump and Brexit campaigns have become vehicles for protest votes about economic insecurity. The third is the chasm between elite opinion and that of the white working class.
Both the Trump and Brexit campaigns have put the promise to control immigration at the centre of their operations. In the UK, the Brexiters’ demand to “take back control” was understood to mean, above all, a promise to stop the flow of immigrants from Europe. Mr Trump’s most famous campaign pledge is to “build the wall” and stop illegal immigration from Mexico to the US.