I know I had said I was going to discuss more on the differing perspectives of the two parties this week. But with the debate we just witnessed this week I had no choice but to write about it.
The Presidential debates, a chance for the American people to hear our two candidate’s plans for when they take office, a historic part of our democracy, a chance to hear the words straight out of the candidates mouths with out any media bias, this time we got none of that. This debate was a historic moment as it demonstrated how far we have fallen, and showed how divided our country really is. Neither candidate was able to really say anything beneficial or address real problems and their plans to solve them. This debate resembled more of two children arguing on a playground than a presidential debate. It consisted of constant interruptions, from both sides, and relentless personal attacks.
Chris Wallace, the moderator, spent most of the debate battling with the two candidates for order and for them to follow the agreed upon rules. This has never happened before in the history of debates. For instance refer to the Bush vs. Gore debates, two candidates who greatly disagreed, but were still able to show respect to each other and discuss policies and issues that affected the American people. The results of this election were also greatly contested, with results that could have gone either way as there were legal battles over the counting of results in Florida that would of determined the election. Gore decided to instead concede the election (although reluctantly) as he valued the unity of our country and democracy over his own ego.
“And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”
-Vice President Al Gore
This brings me to what was the most disturbing aspect of the debate in my eyes, which was when Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the results come in. He uses the presence of mail voting fraud as his excuse for such a statement. What he is insinuating is the biggest threat we have seen to our union and democracy in decades.
All in all this debate was a catastrophe, it showed the state that our two party system is in and our inability to compromise. This is not the way the party system was intended to work, as I have talked about in a previous post. We should not be more interested in our side “winning” over our democracy. Parties are not meant to be enemies, we should not resort to insults and name calling (as both candidates did). We are the United States of America lets act that way. This is no longer about which party you are affiliated with, this is now about our democracy and restoring our union.
I would recommend reading on the Lincoln Douglas debates, a great example of how debates should work and their ability to compromise over an issue as serious as slavery. I will also attach the link to the full debate if you had missed it.
I had the same reaction as to you about this debate, especially with what Trump said about transferring his power. I think it’s terrifying that he has basically encouraged voting fraud, and many people support him doing so.