Rudy Giuliani is campaigning more fiercely and ubiquitously for Donald Trump than he has for any recent Republican nominee. People wonder why, but as a former privatization advisor to the mayor and current economic advisor to the nominee, I see many reasons why their alliance was inevitable.

Both are outspoken, highly competitive, larger-than-life figures. More importantly, both are spiritual godchildren of Ronald Reagan. Trump’s plans for deregulating the overbearing federal government and breathing life into our moribund economy are strikingly similar to ideas Rudy introduced as mayor.

Rudy's policies helped hundreds of thousands of people move from welfare rolls to work. Similarly, Trump's child-care tax credits and strategy to return jobs from abroad will help the poor climb those critical first few rungs of the economic ladder towards the middle class.

Both Rudy and Donald know that intelligent tax cuts, sound fiscal policies, and governmental reform will result in more net tax revenues, not less. To boost New York City's lagging tourist industry, Rudy cut the hotel room rent tax and created matching grants to help cultural institutions expand their offerings to the public. Within a year, tourism was growing again.

Following that playbook, Trump’s trade policies, reduced corporate repatriation tax and deregulation will stimulate growth nationwide. This contrasts sharply with Hillary Clinton's embrace of the dismal “new normal” as the best we can do. Her adherence to Obamacare and other job-killing regulations, higher taxes and, consequent, trade deficits mean another four (or eight!) more years of stagnation.

Donald and Rudy know we can do better.

During his tenure as Mayor, I helped Rudy sell off money-losing TV and radio stations and privatize moribund programs. The hundreds of millions of dollars we raised helped fund the early retirement of thousands of civil servants. Trump’s pledge to reduce non-defense discretionary spending by 1% per year would work similar wonders for the federal budget.

Both Rudy and Donald are also law-and-order hawks. They understand that government's most fundamental obligation is to maintain civil order. They know that a strong but principled stop-and-frisk policy is not a form of harassment, but an effective tool for removing illegal guns from the streets.

I saw this first-hand, having participated as "police commissioner for a day" in a raid on a group of low-lifes who had converted a row of public phone booths into a drug-trading floor. Frisking one especially disreputable-looking man revealed $20,000 in cash and a Syracuse driver’s license. When asked why he was in New York with so much cash, he replied he was clothes shopping … 2:30 am. We then found a gun strapped to his ankle. This is just one of the thousands of stories underlying the historic crime reduction under the Giuliani Administration — landmark achievement that dramatically improved the daily life of minority communities across New York City.

Of course, the main reason why one-sixth of our population ages 18 to 35 is either in jail or on unemployment is the lack of decent-paying jobs — a fact both Trump and Giuliani understand innately. When employment dries up, crime is often the alternative. It’s the tragic reality of so many inner-city communities that have languished under Democratic Party rule. Trump, meanwhile, has spent a lifetime hiring thousands of people of color to work at his construction projects, hotels, clubs and resorts. As his children say, their Dad has spent his career signing the fronts of checks, not the backs of them.

Teddy Roosevelt famously said, “Speak softly but carry a big stick." Reagan famously pursued “peace through strength.” These are the dicta Trump will live by. Like his friend, Giuliani, Trump knows the best way to maintain global peace and stability is through the projection of U.S. power. While the Obama-Clinton regime has hollowed out America’s military (our naval fleet has been reduced to 1917 levels), Trump would reconstitute our national defense, much as Giuliani reconstituted New York’s police.

As for negotiating skills, Trump and Giuliani are cut from the same cloth. Rudy toughed it out with the unions and Albany to get far better deals that accrued to the city’s bottom line.

Similarly, Trump knows that America’s $500 billion annual trade deficit is unsustainable. He’ll apply his unique business skills to renegotiate our trade deals. And as a good businessman, he understands that free trade is a two-way street. He will only impose tariffs on other nations when they persist in maintaining unfair barriers to American exports or try to dump their products on the U.S.

Neither Donald nor Rudy have enjoyed much support from the Republican Brahmins. The base for both has been ordinary rank-and-file citizens. While Manhattan’s limousine liberals assailed Rudy, working class people in outer boroughs like Staten Island voted for him overwhelmingly.

It’s not unlike how the GOP elite initially ignored Trump’s candidacy and tried to deny him the nomination, only to be outvoted by Donald’s core support among heartland Americans who have struggled economically for decades and will no longer accept being left behind. Democrats are guilty of the same, with the Clinton camp conspiring to deny Bernie Sanders a fair chance to be their party's nominee. These actions will haunt both parties' leadership for years to come. Regardless of what happens in November, the Trump and Sanders contingents are not going away. The millions of small donors who have earnestly contributed to Donald have consciously rejected traditional party leadership. Trump is now their undisputed champion.

One of the major themes of this crucial campaign year is how completely leaders of both parties have lost touch with their constituents to whom they are ultimately beholden. They also forget that party loyalty is a lot like virginity, which is so easy to lose and impossible to regain. The bottom line is that we may be witnessing the demise of the two-party system as we have known it. Heaven help the country if we disintegrate into the dysfunctional morass of multiple parties and coalition governments that has long plagued Europe and Japan.

If we take that plunge, it will be because the party elites have lost touch with their voters. Meanwhile, come what may for the major parties, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani will continue on as two happy warriors, kindred souls in the tradition of Ronald Reagan.

Wilbur Ross is a private equity investor and a senior policy advisor to the Trump campaign.