Is Trump following Obama's footsteps?

Comparing incumbent US President Barack Obama with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may look bizarre to any American. However, the duo indeed has something in common from a political perspective.

Trump has been reckless with his words in many of his speeches, leading many to believe that racism is at the core of his campaign while Obama being the first elected black President in the US history stands quite opposite to Trump's assertion so far.

But what Trump has said is on the same issues and frames that Obama raised in 2008 and 2012. The Republican nominee has, however, changed the story lines, writes the New York Times.

In 2008, Obama depicted himself as an agent of hope and change. He ran against Washington, the establishment and special interests. In 2012, the Obama campaign attacked its Republican opponent Mitt Romney as a plutocrat, who would outsource jobs and help the wealthy, not the middle class.

Those were the reasons that the white working-class Democrats in places like Scranton, Pa., and Youngstown, Ohio, remained with the Democrats and these are also the grounds that have won supporters for Trump among some of the same white voters who backed Obama in 2008.

In this election, Trump portrayed himself as running against the establishment, voicing anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric and promising more jobs for the average Americans while stating that they need to make America great again. He depicted Clinton as someone who supports corporate - even global - interests over the middle class on issues like trade and immigration.

The various allegations against Clinton neatly complement the notion that she's not trying to help ordinary Americans.

Clinton, meanwhile, has spent more time questioning Trump's suitability for the presidency than emphasizing the traditional Democratic campaign message about the economy and thinking about the average American.

And the voters receptive to Trump's views on these issues would have pulled Republicans awfully close to victory.