2016: A billionaire and millionaire in the year of populism

Nonetheless, Travis argues, neither the presumptive Republican nominee nor Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton actually gets people like him.

Going into a general election matchup, Trump appears to have the initial upper hand with the most vocally frustrated voters, who powered him past a gaggle of career politicians in the GOP primary.

Throngs roar at his calls to build a wall at the Mexican border, close all U.S. borders to noncitizen Muslims, and "bring back the jobs" from China and Mexico.

Atypical of Republicans, he promises to "take care of people" and not cut Social Security or Medicare.

Clinton also frames issues such as gun violence, police brutality and criminal justice as matters of fundamental economic opportunity for urban and minority communities, perhaps redefining populism in 2016 to include more than traditional pitches to white voters.

Clinton said she chose the wrong words to explain wider market forces, such as increasing consumer preference for solar energy, that reduce coal demand.

Four years ago, President Barack Obama and Democrats painted Romney as out of step after he said his wife drove a "couple of Cadillacs" and because he tried to make a $10,000 bet on a primary debate stage.

Exit polls in 2012 indicated that about one-fifth of the electorate gave priority to choosing a president who "cares about people like me," and Obama won that group 81 percent to 18 percent for Romney.

[...] she cautioned that Clinton is not the same messenger as Obama, who was still paying off student loans when he stepped onto the national stage with a prominent speech at the 2004 convention.