[katana]

a man left for dead politically 6 years ago, by both sides, rising to the precipice of front-runner status.

Not to imply any similarities between the two men, but there was this certain left-for-dead politician from Whittier, California who beat a consensus establishment candidate named Romney for the nomination back in 1968.

[KC Burke]

I will cite the similarities:
Both have a tin ear for live broadcast dialogue
Both forget how cliches turn into bad sound bytes.
Both have the media loathing them.
Both have a lot of time as a pol and see government as a solution to problems.