What Republicans want in their candidate; what Democrats want in theirs.

Gene Robinson

Why Bernie, tied among white Democrats, trails Hillary among blacks.

The challenge for Sanders is that while he is hugely popular with young voters and progressives, he has not connected with other key segments of the Democratic Party coalition. 

In August, a Gallup survey found that Clinton had a favorable rating of 80 percent among African-Americans compared to just 23 percent for Sanders. 

This doesn't reflect any particular antipathy toward the Vermont senator. 

Rather, it's because just 33 percent of African-Americans told Gallup they were familiar with him.

And then the bad news for the GOP: their conservative base is way out there.

Am I ignoring the big picture? 

Have I somehow missed the fact that the major themes of the campaign thus far have been disgust with politics as usual and rejection of establishment candidates?

No, it's just that I believe the internal dynamics of the two parties are quite different. 

Clinton fatigue among Democrats is one thing, but the total anarchy in the Republican Party is quite another.

Back to the Post-ABC News poll: A full 33 percent of Republican or GOP-leaning registered voters support billionaire Donald Trump for their party's nomination and another 20 percent support retired surgeon Ben Carson. 

That's more than half the party rejecting not only the establishment's favored choices but any contender who has held political office.

Indeed, when asked what kind of person they would like to see as the next president, more than 70 percent of Democratic-leaning voters said they want "someone with experience in how the political system works." 

But more than half of GOP-leaning voters, and a stunning 64 percent of self-described "conservative" Republicans, want "someone from outside the existing political establishment."

This is terrible news for Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz and the other current or former officeholders in the GOP race. 

It's good news for Clinton, because if she gets the nomination she will likely face either a novice whose qualifications and temperament are in question or a veteran politician struggling to consolidate his own fractious party's support.