America’s business community is watching the Clinton-Sanders battle

In recent elections, presidential candidates have tended to tack to the left or to the right, depending on their respective political parties, and then back to the middle in the general election after securing their party’s nomination. That may still hold true this year as well, but the American business community would be well-served to keep a close eye on the Democratic side of this race in the months ahead as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faces pressure from Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and his progressive base of support on the left.

{mosads}Despite a string of recent caucus wins, the reality is that Sanders faces a very longshot effort to win the nomination — as shown by his loss to Clinton in the New York primary — but his popularity among key sectors of the Democratic electorate could allow him to exert significant influence on the party platform and Clinton’s positioning in the general and beyond if she wins in November.

Clinton has pitched herself to voters as a “progressive who likes to get things done,” but it was disappointing, for example, to see her abandon apparent past support for free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). As secretary of State, Clinton observed that TPP would encourage exports, strengthen investment and create jobs here at home, and she was right. Free and open trade are fundamental building blocks for a stronger American economy and the U.S. must aggressively pursue trade agreements that will strengthen and expand economic growth in the future.

It should also concern the business community that under pressure from Sanders and the left, Clinton has proposed new tax increases that exceed even those of the Obama administration. Instead of starting with higher taxes, it’s the hope of many American job creators that the next president will begin the conversation with a commitment to overhauling our massively outdated tax code. Our current tax system represents a drag on economic growth and we should move toward a simpler and fairer tax code that promotes economic growth.

America’s job creators have also been hammered under the current administration with excessive new regulations and higher costs from ObamaCare. Instead of doubling down on these harmful actions, the next president should encourage innovation and foster marketplace reforms instead one-size-fits-all government mandates. Again, though, it’s still unclear how exactly Clinton will govern on these and other issues given her ever-shifting positions in the Democratic primary.

To her credit, though, unlike Republican contenders Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Clinton has shown much-needed pragmatism on the issue of repairing our broken immigration system. Most Americans recognize that we’re not going to round up and deport 11 million people, so let’s get a system in place that finally secures the border, strengthens our visa system and fosters a growing economy.

America’s job creators will be monitoring the candidates’ positioning on these and many other issues in the months ahead. Above all else, it’s our hope that candidates in both parties will work to find common ground on the big issues and commit to moving our country forward by bringing both parties together. We certainly hope that Secretary Clinton will ultimately do that, regardless of how much pressure the Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) crowd exerts on her.

Gerlach is the president and CEO of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC). He previously served Pennsylvania’s Sixth Congressional District for 12 years, where he was a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Subcommittees on Health and Select Revenue.