If what Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley debated in New Hampshire on December 16 in their third and last presidential debate of the year were compared and contrasted with that of the Republican candidates in their last and fifth one in Las Vegas on December 15, the difference would be like daylight and darkness. A major difference was in the intellectual level of the debates. The Democrats clearly established the high standard expected from politicians in a presidential election. They were united in acknowledging that under President Obama, the United States has been rightly served and that the country has come a long way forward in the last seven years. They nevertheless differed on what they debated on the Middle East, on regime change, on national security, gun control, health care, and education but they were civilised. The apology offered at the outset by Senator Sanders for the aide who criminally accessed Hillary Clinton's private data was accepted gracefully. That underlined the vast difference between the Democrats and the Republican candidates on civility.
One reason why the Democrats were united behind the party was of course to underline the chaos within the Republicans. The Democratic candidates also debated on the same wavelength with the final round of the fight for the White House in mind. None of the candidates mentioned any other Republican candidate other than Donald Trump. That could have been a well-laid-out party strategy because polls have shown that the Democrats will have the best chance to win the 2016 presidential election against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will have the best chance of beating him convincingly. In fact, the view gaining ground following the debates that as the Republican candidate, Donald Trump would not just ensure a Democratic victory but also endanger quite a number of Republican Senators in the 2016 elections to the US Senate.
Another major difference in the two debates was on facts check. The media had a great time pinning down the lies, untruths and distortion of facts by the Republican candidates after their last debate. The media was agog with writing, reporting and talking on the lies, half-truths, distortions and ignorance that the leading Republican candidates uttered in their last presidential debate to beat one another and create an environment of fear and hatred in the country. In comparison, the Democrats did neither embarrass themselves nor their party by lying or distorting the truth to score points against one another or against the Republicans.
In fact, Donald Trump does not seem to care any more about the truth. His campaign is now based almost totally on Machiavellian principles. Thus, with national security emerging as the major issue for the 2016 election, he has been saying whatever he feels would create fear among Americans and demanding absurd things so that they would vote for him out of the fear that he spreads.
Therefore, he has openly stated he would use nuclear bombs against ISIS exposing his ignorance of the nuclear triad. As his competitors realised that Donald Trump has been improving his poll numbers by creating fear, they too have done the same. Thus, the Washington Post was forced to write an editorial on December 24 that while Donald Trump 'fans fear and anger…voters can and should rise above the rhetoric.'
By comparison, in the last Democratic debate, all the media could find to write or talk about was whether Hillary Clinton had the facts right when she said ISIS was using Donald Trump video on banning Muslims to recruit sympathisers. It questioned the accuracy of her statement that the dictator Bashar al-Assad had killed 250,000 Syrians so far although the UN estimated since 2011 till present, 220,000 people have been killed in Syria but not all of them at the hands of the Assad regime. There were also discrepancies in statements related to education and healthcare issues, but those were benign compared to the cancerous lies of some of the Republican candidates.
Thus on facts and rhetoric designed to fan fear and anger and grace or the lack of it, the Democrats brought sanity back to politics after the Republicans had established quite the opposite. As for the last Democratic debate itself, Hillary Clinton succeeded in furthering her case to become the next President of the United States. Issues that had stalked her efforts to win the Democratic ticket like those related to the email and Benghazi affairs appeared to have faded. However, Hillary Clinton may have to establish her case on national security more convincingly. Her vote in favour of the Iraq war and the way Libya has emerged into chaos where she had led the case for regime change are likely to be turned into serious ammunitions against her if she wins the Democratic ticket that after the last debate appeared certain.
In arguing the case against Hillary Clinton on the Iraq war, the Republicans have argued against their own party for it was President GW Bush and his neocon aides who led the United States and its allies into that war based on manipulated intelligence. Further, to the vast majority of Americans, it has now been established that the Iraq war was not only wrong but also one that had pushed the country into its worst economic depression in many decades, costing trillions of dollars and loss of the lives of over 4,000 US servicemen and women. And to attack Hillary Clinton on regime change, the Republican candidates have argued that the Middle East would have been safer with Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi still alive!
In their last debate, the Democrats have also re-established the values enshrined in the US Constitution that has made the country great, values that the Republican candidates seemed not to care about because to them nothing mattered as long as they thought what they did would help them win the presidential election. Thus, they have been saying just anything without caring about facts and truths as long as they see their supporters cheering them and standing behind them the way they want. And among the country's 320 million people, there are a huge number of people that love everything that Donald Trump in particular and his close competitors are saying that in fact is also tearing down the traditional conservative base of the Republican Party. In fact, such Machiavellianism has pushed the Republican Party to face the predicament of an 'endangered party.' Â
Donald Trump is still climbing in the polls strengthened by his belief more than ever that his best way to keep climbing is to hurl more insults at everything and everybody. Thus, he made a comment on Hillary Clinton's visit to the rest room or toilet during a break in the New Hampshire debate and her slightly delayed re-entry to the event. The comment was obnoxious and sexist and has just not insulted Hillary Clinton but also the women in the country. People are now watching how further would he go and what more racist, vulgar and sexist insults he has up his sleeves to embarrass the sanity of the country.
While at this stage, Donald Trump may be insulting and bullying his way to grab the Republican ticket, he may also be insulting the Republicans out of contention to take the White House for, despite his rising poll numbers among Republicans, it would be insane to believe that there are enough Americans to elect him as President. Â
The writer is a retired Ambassador.
ambserajulislam@gmail.com
Democrats bring sanity to US politics
M. Serajul Islam from Maryland, USA | Published: December 27, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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