In a single sentence in his CPAC speech on Saturday, President Trump laid out the entire 2020 campaign. Trump couldn’t have made his message more clear if he’d stood on stage and literally hugged the American flag.

“We believe in the American Dream, not the socialist nightmare.”

And there it is.

But he hugged the flag anyway, just for good measure.

I was doing post-speech analysis on CBSN and the host, Tonya Rivero, asked if Trump’s strategy could work. Could he really convince Americans that their only choice in 2020 is re-electing the chaos that is Trump or facing the real threat of a socialist president? It’s a good question. And I don’t know if even the Donald can make that sale. But you know who can?

Sen. Bernie Sanders.

It’s hard to accuse Republicans of trying to smear Democrats as Soviet-style socialists when the current front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination is an actual socialist who spent his honeymoon in the USSR. From his support for socialized medicine to backing the big-government Green New Deal, describing Bernie Sanders as “socialist” isn’t name-calling. It’s reading from his resume.

Which is one reason Sanders is getting short shrift from the political press. The latest CNN power rankings of the potential 2020 candidates, for example, has Sanders down in sixth place, between Sens. Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar. This despite the fact that Sanders raised $6 million in his first 24 hours as a candidate and currently leads every announced candidate in the Real Clear Politics poll average. He only trails former Vice President Joe Biden, who’s still on the sidelines.

The thinking of the media smart set is that Sanders is so solidly out on the left edge of his party that there’s no way he can win the nomination. The rest of us see the heartfelt support of his fans and hear the unapologetic rhetoric of his message, and we feel a wave of Donald Trump déjà vu.

Think about it: A dozen, mostly underwhelming candidates all running in a muddled-progressivism pack, vs. one candidate with a clear brand and hardcore support among primary voters? Sound familiar?

And if you think Joe Biden’s a shoo-in, ask Jeb Bush if he agrees.

In this era of Ocasio-Cortez politics, Bernie Sanders is the old white male to beat. And the person who’s cheering him on the most is President Trump.

Let’s be honest: Nobody votes for Donald Trump. He’s a vote against. You vote for him the for the same reason contestants on the old Hollywood Squares picked Paul Lynde: to block. And with his approval ratings hovering around 40 percent, Trump’s re-election hinges on Democrats nominating a candidate that suburban swing voters will be desperate to keep out of the Oval Office.

Which is why there’s nobody better for Trump than Bernie Sanders.