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March 18, 2024

EDITORIAL:

Talking politics: Three ways that Clinton’s speech trounced Trump’s

DNC Day 4

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton waves after taking the stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Thursday, July 28, 2016.

A week after Donald Trump delivered a speech that seemed to be designed to make Americans grab guns and hide in their basements, Hillary Clinton accepted her party’s nomination with an address filled with hope and optimism.

But the speeches illustrated more than the candidates’ differences in their vision of the state of the nation. They also showed Clinton to be the more capable, qualified and experienced candidate. Here are three key ways her speech trounced Trump’s.

1. Clinton offered solutions. Trump said “Believe me.”

Other than his 10-point plan to fix Veterans Affairs, Trump offered virtually no details about how he’d solve the long list of problems he brought up. Take his “plan” to restore law and order:

“I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: When I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country. Believe me. Believe me.

“I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job properly done. In this race for the White House, I am the law and order candidate.”

Wow, what a concept: Hire smart people. Psst, Donald, Americans expect the president to do that across the board. Assembling a good team isn’t a solution, it’s a preliminary step.

Contrast that with Clinton’s speech, in which she laid out a plan that included: increasing the minimum wage, reforming immigration law to allow working immigrants to keep working and contributing to the economy, eliminating the wage gap between men and women, investing in infrastructure and clean-energy jobs, working to make college tuition-free, overturn Citizens United and much, much more.

“He's offering empty promises. And what are we offering? A bold agenda to improve the lives of people across our country — to keep you safe, to get you good jobs, to get your kids the opportunities they deserve,” Clinton said.

2. I alone?

When Trump said “No one knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it,” those who cheered him proved they were capable of believing two total fantasies. Why would Trump be the pre-eminent authority on government when he doesn’t even know how many articles are in the Constitution? And why would anyone short of a supreme being be the only entity who could improve it?

Clinton offered an approach that was rooted in reality. She pledged to work with Republicans, Bernie Sanders, the nation’s NATO allies, responsible gun owners and more.

“Now Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, ‘I know more about ISIS than the generals do,” she said. “No, Donald, you don't.”

3. Clinton’s address was Hillary being Hillary. Trump being Trump is something else entirely.

Anyone who thought Trump sounded presidential should remember two things. One, he more or less stuck to the script. Two, that script was written by people who are smart enough to understand that Trump’s impromptu ravings don’t play well to voters. Let’s not forget how terrifying Trump can be when he’s on his own, with the latest case in point coming over the past two weeks when he: A) Said U.S. might abandon its military commitments to NATO if he were elected president; B) Said he hoped Russia had hacked Clinton’s email; and C) Once again praised Vladimir Putin, calling him “a better leader” than Barack Obama.

“Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis,” Clinton said in her acceptance speech. “A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”

Meanwhile, Clinton outlined her plan and presented herself as a policy wonk who’s always been more comfortable with the “service” part of public service than the other element.

“It's true, I sweat the details of policy — whether we're talking about the exact level of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Mich., the number of mental health facilities in Iowa, or the cost of your prescription drugs,” she said. “Because it's not just a detail if it's your kid — if it's your family. It's a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president.”

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