Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:02 pm
Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy speech showed that she has the one vital attribute that no other candidate has when it comes to facing off against Trump. Hillary Clinton has the battle sharpened gravitas that Democrats will need to puncture the Trump hot air balloon.
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
In her speech, Clinton was able to characterize Trump as a clueless amateur, “There’s no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf-course deal. But it doesn’t work like that in world affairs. Just like being interviewed on the same episode of “60 Minutes†as Putin was, is not the same thing as actually dealing with Putin. So the stakes in global statecraft are infinitely higher and more complex than in the world of luxury hotels. We all know the tools Donald Trump brings to the table – bragging, mocking, composing nasty tweets – I’m willing to bet he’s writing a few right now.”
Clinton referred to Trump as a know nothing, “Donald Trump says we shouldn’t have done the deal. We should have walked away. But that would have meant no more global sanctions, and Iran resuming their nuclear program and the world blaming us. So then what? War? Telling the world, good luck, you deal with Iran? Of course Trump doesn’t have answers to those questions. Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about Iran or its nuclear program. Ask him. It’ll become very clear, very quickly.”
When Hillary Clinton was unveiling daily policy plans, I was wondering how the wonk candidate would match up with Trump. The answer is that the Clinton campaign understands what they are facing and how to defeat Trump. Hillary Clinton has proven that not only is she the most experienced and qualified presidential candidate but that she has the right combination of gravitas and political brawler to handle Trump.
While Bernie Sanders could brawl with Trump, he and the Republican nominee would have contested the election on nearly equal footing. Bernie Sanders is pushing for a political revolution, while Donald Trump is selling the cult of Trump. Neither one of them has ever served in the Executive Branch or has foreign policy experience.
The Sanders campaign and supporters point to the hypothetical national matchup polls, but those results are hypothetical. Bernie Sanders has never faced the Republican attack machine. Republicans were dying to run against Sanders because they knew that they could pull out the playbook used to defeat every Northeastern liberal from Michael Dukakis to John Kerry. Sanders would have been an easy target because of his Democratic Socialism.
Hillary Clinton showed why she is the perfect Democrat to take on Trump in the fall. She has been through the mud and the political wars. She understands how Republicans fight, and most importantly, she knows how to beat them at their own game. Clinton is battle tested, and her foreign policy speech revealed that she has the right combination of experience, skill, and stature to defeat Donald Trump.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
