The surprising successes of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in this year’s primaries have led to a great deal of discussion in the media of voter anger. What I haven’t seen much of, however, is discussion of voter naivete, which itself is surprising in 2016, when one might expect a greater sophistication among American voters.

For example, Republican voters seem to believe that Trump has some kind of magic wand that he will wave over the country if elected, and we will go back to the good old days that never existed in the first place. At the same time, I often hear Trump supporters saying that he would never do all the awful things he says he will do if he actually gets elected. Hello!

On the Democratic side, Sanders has somehow become the left wing’s new messiah. While I share many of Senator Sanders’ ideals, it is naive for anyone to believe that, if elected, he could make them a reality in today’s political climate.

The media have earned some naivete points too, by fueling Trump’s fire. They gave him an unwarranted and unprecedented amount of time in the public eye, while not taking him seriously enough, until it became too late to stop him.

I can only hope that American voters will return to some degree of political realism before they cast their November ballots.

Gene Wintner

Newburyport