Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Socialist’s Journal: Campaign Platforms

Brookins Head Shot

*On his campaign website Donald Trump takes a position on 9 issues. By contrast there are 39 issues highlighted by Hillary Clinton on her campaign website.

Given that through his campaign slogan Trump has been the candidate proclaiming that the country needs to be made great again, it is surprising that there are only 9 things he believes deserve immediate attention if he were elected president. On the other Clinton sees 39 issues that are worthy of presidential energy.

It might be said that Clinton’s webpage is a case of a politician overreaching because it is impossible to focus on 39 things at once, and that Trump is taking the correct perspective in that he is focusing on a limited number of key issues. But such a statement is wrong on multiple fronts.

First there is the precedent of Franklin Roosevelt who had multiple issues on his radar as the Great Depression plagued the country. Furthermore since Roosevelt’s presidency the expectation has (fairly) been that presidents are able to multitask and I don’t see how or why the expectation would be different for Trump. Keeping in mind that Trump hasn’t said he can only handle 9 issues, it is simply peculiar that he believes the country is doing so poorly under the Obama administration and presumably would continue trending negatively if Clinton were elected that a mere 9 issues would get the country back on track.

I think that instead of indicating a lack of ability to focus on a greater number of issues, this is indicative of Trump’s lack of interest in more than 9 issues and/or his naiveté that these are truly the only issues that are impeding the country. That is a problem because it shows how few things Trump would be interested in as president even though the President is expected to have a position on everything.

Clinton has links to 39 issues that are part of her campaign platform. Among the things that Trump does not proclaim a stance about are protecting wildlife, HIV and AIDS, substance use and addiction, and racial justice. While it is somewhat improbably that she would be able to devout serious attention to that many issues, but Clinton is showing herself to be presidential by empathizing with so many groups and proclaiming that their issues are important enough to warrant her attention. And it is worth noting that Clinton doesn’t have to have any of these issues monopolize her time; the President has multiple cabinet members and numerous staffers who could do the busywork on any issue and report back. Clinton only has to say that something is a priority and let the executive branch go to work.

Furthermore Clinton is illustrating how the she, and the Democratic Party by extension, envision themselves as inviting many different kinds of people and groups. This is in stark contrast to Trump and the Republican Party who seem to be consolidating support among a much narrower base of people ad groups. Whoever becomes president is representing all of the people and by way of her campaign platform Clinton is already operating from this mindset.

Along these same lines, there is a philosophical difference between the Declaration of Independence (which is arguing against obeying a strong central government) and the Constitution (which is instituting a strong central government and advocating obedience to it). These two things are not totally incompatible but the spirit of the Declaration that people of different types deserve to be able to strive for their goals, should be the guiding principle for the country and the Constitution should operate to support that idea. Clinton’s platform is all inclusive, attempting to court immigrants, LGBT, small business owners, ethnic minorities, women, and conservationists among others.

Even without getting into specifics (NEXT WEEK) Clinton’s platform is better.

Trevor Brookins is a free lance writer in Rockland County, New York. He is currently working on a book about American culture during the Cold War.  His writing has appeared in The Journal News. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @historictrev.

 

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