The important turning point of the US election

(Baonghean) - The first debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton was heated with issues ranging from security, economy, and environment, not only in the US but also around the world. The performance at the debate is an important step for the candidates towards the US presidency.

Panorama of the debate between the two presidential candidates. Photo: Guardian.

Start a debate thread

The first of three debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton concluded on the morning of September 27 at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York. The development of the debate between a flamboyant billionaire and a former Secretary of State attracted great attention. Previously, according to an ABC/Washington Post survey, about 74% of Americans said they planned to watch the broadcast live.

The debate was moderated by Lester Holt, a character who Trump did not like much when he was accused by the billionaire of being a supporter of the opposition party. This fierce confrontation can be considered one of the important turning points, especially in the context that before the debate, Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton were considered the least popular presidential candidates in American history. Up to 55% of Americans had an unfavorable view of Mrs. Clinton's Democratic Party and 58% expressed disapproval of Mr. Donald Trump's Party. Therefore, this was an opportunity for the two candidates to attract more voters to their side.

The reality of the 2016 election is different from previous years, not only because support for both candidates is the lowest it has been in 30 years, but also because the polls are less meaningful. For example, on Sunday, a poll conducted by the Economist and YouGov showed Clinton leading by 4%, but less than 24 hours later, the LA Times and USC showed Donald Trump leading by 4%. Ten minutes before the debate, HuffPost released a survey showing Clinton at 47.7% and Trump at 44.2%.

The 90-minute debate was divided into six parts, each part starting with a question and a two-minute response for each candidate. Moderator Holt divided the debate into three topics: “The Direction of America,” “How to Achieve Prosperity,” and “Securing America.”

American audiences attentively watched the 'boxing match' between two opponents from two political parties. Photo: Reuters.

Dialogue and confrontation

The debate began with the economy and jobs. Mr. Trump argued that the United States was losing jobs to other countries such as China and Mexico and that tax cuts would help keep companies in business and create jobs. However, in contrast, Mrs. Clinton argued that it was the tax cuts on Wall Street that caused the economic crisis and Mr. Trump was one of the ones who caused the housing crisis. Mrs. Clinton also cited a neutral study that showed that Mr. Trump's policies would create a debt of $5,000 billion over the next 10 years.

Clinton also pointed to a report from Moody's Analytics that showed the nation's economy could gain 10 million jobs under her plan while Trump could lose 3.4 million. However, the employment figures are incomplete, as the report concluded that the US economy would gain 7.2 million jobs without Clinton taking any action.

In addition, Mr. Trump also criticized trade agreements such as NAFTA as bad and criticized Mrs. Clinton for declaring the TPP agreement as the gold standard, although she recently spoke out against the agreement. Mrs. Clinton immediately responded by saying that the statements were made when she was Secretary of State and that it was only the initial hope.

On the issue of counterterrorism, Mrs. Clinton said that her opponent Trump supported the US military intervention in Iraq as well as Libya. However, Mr. Trump immediately denied this and said that the idea that he supported the US invasion was created by the media. In turn, Mr. Donald Trump said that current President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton created conditions for the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) to grow stronger by ignoring it in its early stages after the invasion of Iraq. In fact, this terrorist group was established when Mr. George W. Bush was still President and emerged strongly in 2014 after Mrs. Clinton left office.

On the issue of security, Mr. Trump cited his hometown of New York, saying that the city's crime rate was rising. On the other hand, Mrs. Clinton said that things were going well under the new governor.

In fact, according to the New York Police Department, homicides in 2016 were down 4.3 percent from 2015, and are expected to be the safest year on record for crime. But perhaps what makes Mr. Trump think crime is up is that the FBI’s annual report shows an increase in homicides nationwide.

Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton shook hands after the heated debate. Photo: Reuters.

More surprises…

In addition to the above issues, there were many other issues that both sides raised during the debate, and it seemed that Mrs. Clinton's arguments were more convincing. According to a CNBC survey conducted immediately after the debate, 55% of 157,000 people thought Mrs. Clinton was the winner.

However, whether the debate will really affect the final result of the election or not is still a long way to go. Because developments in the US election are often surprising and unpredictable. For example, in 2004 and 2012, when the opponent was considered to have won the debates, the two candidates Bush and Obama still won the final election.

Phan Vu