Round one: Achieving prosperity
CLINTON
Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton focused early on policy, laying out an economic agenda that called for reducing income inequality by raising the minimum wage, closing the gender pay gap and eliminating corporate tax loopholes.
However, she did not miss the opportunity to go after Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump for being the first major-party nominee in more than 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns.
The Republican candidate managed to put his Democratic rival on the defensive on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), forcing her to explain why she came out against the landmark 12-nation trade agreement last year after previously supporting it.
However, Clinton was able to overcome the question in part because Trump repeatedly shouted over her attempts to answer it — placing the focus instead on his aggressive posture. Sabrina Siddiqui (SS)
TRUMP
Trump was strongest early in the debate, when he hit familiar talking points on trade and put Clinton on the back foot, having to defend her flip-flop on TPP and the controversial legacy of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the free-trade agreement signed by her husband that many in the industrial midwest feel has cost manufacturing jobs.
An off-key rehearsed line from a stilted Clinton about “Trumped-up trickle down economics” represented a brief window into what the debate might have been like if Trump had been able to act like a normal candidate for more than 10 minutes .
However, the Republican nominee took Clinton’s bait and played defense on personal attacks almost immediately.
After Clinton said: “He started his business with US$14 million, borrowed from his father,” Trump immediately responded, rather than turn the focus back on to trade, perhaps his strongest issue. Ben Jacobs (BJ)
Round two: The US’ direction
CLINTON
Arguably Clinton’s strongest segment of the debate was when the discussion turned to race in the US.
The Democratic nominee, who holds broad support from African-American voters, navigated the complex issue of police brutality by placing the emphasis on restoring trust between law enforcement and communities of color.
Clinton walked through an expansive criminal justice plan, which included more resources for police training, but also the need to end mass incarceration. However, beyond that policy, she put forth a unifying message that asked Americans to acknowledge the systemic barriers against minorities.
Wisely, when the topic shifted to birtherism — the conspiracy theory that US President Barack Obama was not born in the US — Clinton did not engage in a debate on the subject. She instead quoted Michelle Obama’s memorable speech at the Democratic Convention in July, in which the first lady said: “When they go low, we go high.” SS
TRUMP
Trump seemed far less comfortable on issues of race. After describing African-Americans and Hispanics as “living in hell” and audibly groaning when his rival was describing “the vibrancy of the black church,” presenting a rosier picture of life in minority communities, the Republican nominee instead centered his pitch to minority voters on “stop and frisk,” a police tactic in New York that was ruled unconstitutional for racially targeting African-Americans and Hispanics, and bragging that the country club he owned in Palm Beach, Florida, did not discriminate.
When the conversation flipped to birtherism, Trump tried falsely to blame Clinton’s 2008 campaign for first spreading the racially charged attack.
Eventually, the Republican nominee boasted: “I think I did a great job and a great service not only for the country, but even for the president, in getting him to produce his birth certificate.” BJ
Round three: Securing the US
CLINTON
Eager to draw a contrast on national security, an issue high on Americans’ priorities amid recent terrorist attacks, Clinton relied on familiar characterizations of Trump: He was unfit to be president; unqualified and lacking the right temperament; and he should not have access to the nuclear codes.
For the benefit of voters tuning in to the race for the first time, Clinton enthusiastically highlighted Trump’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin — regarded by most members of Trump’s Republican party as a dictator and a thug. The goal: to once more prove Trump is out of step with what is expected from a traditional nominee.
However, despite her efforts to call out Trump for lying about the Iraq War, Clinton put the onus on fact-checkers to confirm that the former reality TV star did support the 2003 invasion.
Trump once again falsely claimed he opposed the war all along, and it was unclear if the objections of either Clinton or the moderator, Lester Holt, were able to break through. SS
TRUMP
Trump resorted to familiar cliches, saying that the US should have somehow “taken the oil” from Iraq to prevent the creation of the Islamic State group while he criticized Clinton for having plans to fight the terrorist group on her Web site.
“I don’t think General Douglas MacArthur would like that too much,” Trump said.
He also stuck himself into the mire by repeatedly and enthusiastically claiming that he was against the Iraq War from the beginning. This is untrue and disproven by statements by Trump at the time. The Republican nominee instead said that if reporters only called Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who has appeared in a campaign ad on Trump’s behalf, they would hear the truth.
By the end of the debate, Trump also wandered into treacherous waters by insisting that his rival “doesn’t have the look. She doesn’t have the stamina” to be president — falling into yet other well-set trap allowing Clinton to attack him for crude comments he has made in the past about a beauty pageant contestant’s weight. BJ
VERDICT
Despite Trump’s best efforts to land a few punches, the Republican nominee was unprepared and undisciplined. By contrast, Clinton was measured, avoided mistakes and demonstrated the merits of proper rehearsals.
When US budget carrier Southwest Airlines last week announced a new partnership with China Airlines, Southwest’s social media were filled with comments from travelers excited by the new opportunity to visit China. Of course, China Airlines is not based in China, but in Taiwan, and the new partnership connects Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport with 30 cities across the US. At a time when China is increasing efforts on all fronts to falsely label Taiwan as “China” in all arenas, Taiwan does itself no favors by having its flagship carrier named China Airlines. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is eager to jump at
The muting of the line “I’m from Taiwan” (我台灣來欸), sung in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), during a performance at the closing ceremony of the World Masters Games in New Taipei City on May 31 has sparked a public outcry. The lyric from the well-known song All Eyes on Me (世界都看見) — originally written and performed by Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One (玖壹壹) — was muted twice, while the subtitles on the screen showed an alternate line, “we come here together” (阮作伙來欸), which was not sung. The song, performed at the ceremony by a cheerleading group, was the theme
Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised eyebrows recently when he declared the era of American unipolarity over. He described America’s unrivaled dominance of the international system as an anomaly that was created by the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War. Now, he observed, the United States was returning to a more multipolar world where there are great powers in different parts of the planet. He pointed to China and Russia, as well as “rogue states like Iran and North Korea” as examples of countries the United States must contend with. This all begs the question:
Liberals have wasted no time in pointing to Karol Nawrocki’s lack of qualifications for his new job as president of Poland. He has never previously held political office. He won by the narrowest of margins, with 50.9 percent of the vote. However, Nawrocki possesses the one qualification that many national populists value above all other: a taste for physical strength laced with violence. Nawrocki is a former boxer who still likes to go a few rounds. He is also such an enthusiastic soccer supporter that he reportedly got the logos of his two favorite teams — Chelsea and Lechia Gdansk —
RSS