A week of contrasts
Published August 3, 2016
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, August 2, 2016.
The conventions may be over. The rhetorical fallout clearly isn’t.
Donald Trump’s insensitive retorts to the speech of the father of a fallen Muslim soldier at the Democrats’ convention continued to spark controversy. Small wonder. The Republican and Democratic events could not have been more different, reflecting the wide political division in our country. The GOP gathering in Cleveland showcased Trump’s personality and perspective. The Republican nominee made his own case, claiming to be the only one who could solve a litany of crises.
He had to; few Republican leaders were on hand to speak on his behalf. Both former Presidents Bush stayed away, as did the 2008 and 2012 party nominees. Ohio Gov. John Kasich wasn’t there. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spoke but refused to endorse Trump. Congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan barely mentioned Trump. There were no former Republican secretaries of state or other foreign-policy notables to support Trump’s controversial views.
The Democratic show in Philadelphia provided a sharp contrast. Hillary Clinton was strongly backed by former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, by a long procession of congressional Democrats, by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and, most effectively, by President Barack Obama. They and other speakers presented a better case for Clinton’s election than she did for herself.
While the two party platforms are sharply different, the real contrast is in the personal qualities of the candidates. Trump has taken the GOP by storm; his harsh rhetoric and angry attacks against his political, minority groups and the media, combined with promises of victory on every front, appeal to masses of insecure middle-class, white Americans.
Clinton presents herself as the steady hand who will continue the progress of Obama’s presidency while more forcefully addressing the problems of income inequality and limited economic opportunity that Sanders stressed in his surprisingly popular campaign. Sanders’ followers protested vigorously as last week’s convention began, irate upon learning from leaked emails that the Democratic National Committee favored Clinton all along and cooked up plots — never carried out — to undermine Sanders. Some walked out Tuesday and may not return to the party in November. But Sanders himself appealed for unity. By Wednesday, Democrats appeared to have achieved it.
Their convention featured a diverse array of leaders and ordinary Americans and little of the anger or pessimism seen the week before. Even mothers of slain black men and boys and family members of police officers killed in the line of duty spoke about healing, not hatred.
Yet, there were many warnings about a Trump presidency. Speakers repudiated Trump’s business record, bigotry and behavior. Trump provided more fodder with his remarks about Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Muslim parents of Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq. Clinton and her surrogates know their best chance is to portray Trump as dangerously reckless.
Finally, the historic importance of a woman winning a major party’s presidential nomination should not be overlooked. Clinton earned the distinction through her achievements to date, but her path to victory is far from assured. She hasn’t convinced a majority of voters that she deserves the presidency and must depend more on a rejection of Trump if she’s to become the country’s first woman president.
The campaign will get uglier as Election Day nears. But for a week, the Democrats occupied higher ground.
