As Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE tightens his hold on the attention and fascination that the mainstream media and America hold for his outrageous statements and policy ideas, Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersJacobin editor: Primarying Schumer would force him to fight Trump's SCOTUS nominee Trump campaign plays up Biden's skills ahead of Cleveland debate: 'He's actually quite good' Young voters backing Biden by 2:1 margin: poll MORE (I-Vt.) has an opportunity to create the next significant bump in public support. To do so, however, it will require a change in rhetoric and modification of his election strategy.

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The fundamental irony of the current craze over Trump is that his support comes from the frustration that conservatives and moderates alike feel toward the failure of national leaders to provide the public with anything more than gridlock, the failure to enact election promises, the undue influence of money in politics, the revolving door of crony capitalism and the extensive intrusion of government into every aspect of the public's life. What is the irony? The irony is that Sanders has been a part of the Washington scene for 36 years as a social democrat when that has been a dirty word, and yet he has consistently delivered on his promises and serviced his constituents. He is an abiding example of how government should work.

Sanders has labored quietly in Washington, and despite his "independent" status, he has delivered support to his state for veterans, environmental cleanup, healthcare for low- and middle-income workers, financial subsidies for education, and renewable energy. Sanders has always understood constituent services. He has always known that voters want elected officials to help, not ignore. One has only to visit his Senate website to understand that he and his staff are there to serve, so the anomaly of this maverick socialist operating in hostile territory for over three decades should translate into support from anyone who questions the need for a more responsive government.

But to think that support for Trump can be transferred to support for Sanders is laughable. Or is it? Sanders's standard stump speech vilifying billionaires, raging against oligopoly, creating decent jobs, paying a living wage and railing against bankers — all are overlapping themes. The principle difference is perception. Seventy-five percent of American voters have only the vaguest of ideas as to what these issues are about, and over half of that number screens their information through a filter of partisanship.

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com says that Sanders support within the Democratic Party has crested at 30 percent to 35 percent of those intending to vote. There should be respect for Silver's analysis, since he was spot on in predicting the last two presidential elections. So, if you were a part of the Sanders campaign organization and recognized the anomaly of inherent widespread potential support for your candidate and the limitations that image and partisan filtering were doing, what would you recommend?

We have said early in Sanders's run for the nomination that he was the one Democrat who had the possibility of working across partisan lines, because his message on income inequality impacted more than half of the Republican Party support. The difficult job of reaching these folks is to understand that their "ideology" has created blinders because of other issues, the principle one of which is tied up in "opposition to federal government." Government for Republican ideologues means overregulation, money to the undeserving, deficit spending, crony "dishonest" politicians, denial of the Horatio Alger imagery or unresponsive or indifferent institutions.

Sanders's campaign is at an interesting juncture, since angry Republicans who currently support Trump don't want to be reined in. They are looking for ways to bring their message to Washington. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) are already showing signs of trying to "peel off" Trump support when, as and if he falters — as everyone in Washington is convinced he will. Why shouldn't Sanders use the same strategy?

It probably won't change many of these minds, but it is really important for Sanders to alter his message to "Government can work!" His mantra should include, "I have served for 40 years in government. Despite what they call me, I have delivered. So can government, if people like me are in office!"

His message on income inequality needs refining so that it penetrates the partisan filter. An appropriate line might be, "Do you think it is an accident that your buying power hasn't increased in the past 30 years? Government made it possible for business to play tricks with your work hours, your benefits, your vacation time, your salary and your ability to get ahead — your entire life, in other words!"

Sanders's organization has to reach out to natural allies, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenJudd Gregg: The Kamala threat — the Californiaization of America GOP set to release controversial Biden report Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? MORE (D-Mass.). And campaign rallies should be scheduled in all the states, with new candidates filling the slots — those where vulnerable Republican Senators are up for reelection or retiring. Such a strategy would take him to Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana and Missouri. His strategy has already taken him to Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Colorado and Arizona, where senatorial elections might bring about change. It is, and would be, clear in these states that the Democratic Party organization would be opposed to his endorsement. But he doesn't need them. His theme, without their support, would be to name candidates and challenge his supporters to look for candidates pledged to change the way politics operate in Washington. That will create controversy and attract attention, both of which favor his candidacy.

To know Sanders is to know that he isn't going to make any wholesale changes to who he is, or who he has been for the past 40 years; but the rhetoric he uses can be modified and the game plan shaped. If he is going to get beyond the personification of the progressive discontent within the Democratic Party, he needs to add to his arsenal of words, messaging and travel plans.

Russell is managing director of Cove Hill Advisory Services.