Everybody is talking about the presidential debate. The showdown was between Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Both candidates fought ferociously, but was the fighting over the right issues? The beginning of the debate was calm. It was restrained but informative discussions of actual issues. Very quickly, however, the debate dissolved into an endless list of name calling and personal attacks. We've known all about Clinton and Trump's dirty laundry for months. The campaign trail has revealed plenty about these two unlikeable candidates already, so why are we still hearing about it in the debate?
I think the problem is the way we view politics. This isn't a new issue, politics has always been dirty, but it seems that we have become more numb to it. Abuse of the other candidate or the other side has become more acceptable from United States society. Why have we allowed name calling to take the place of civilized debate in our society. Do we no longer care about the issues, or have we placed ourselves at such ideological odds that we can't imagine the idea of the other side having any sense or merit? Trump and Clinton have both been characterized as liars, cheats, the scum of the earth. There has to be a line drawn where acceptable criticism and unacceptable mud slinging is defined. One of these two people is going to be President of the United States, and all I see in front of me when I watch the debates are terrible people acting like children. If one of these two is going to hold the highest office in our nation in a few short months, we have to start finding some respect for them. Finding that respect for them, as a citizen biased by my own political views, will be a lot easier if they begin to find respect for one another.
Yelling at each other is not a debate, its a fight. The word debate implies civility and control, something that I didn't see when I tuned in on Monday night. I want our next leader to be someone who I can be proud of. I want our next president to be someone I can be enthusiastic about supporting. This isn't middle school dodgeball where the meanest but hardest throwing kid gets to be team captain. This is the President of the United States. If these candidates can't have respect for each other, perhaps they should at least have respect for the office they want to hold. I'm disgusted by the overall lack of respect because it is something that I feel Obama has done so well with. Love him or hate him, he is famous for his elegant speeches and calm demeanor. That is something that I view as a positive presidential attitude.
I hope that in the coming weeks of campaigning and the two future debates, we will see respect return to the stage. These debates aren't a show trying to get ratings, they are a shakedown of the candidate's policies. I want to understand their plans. I want to understand that they do have a plan. When this is all said and done and all of the votes are in, the winner's job won't be to celebrate victory at the other candidate's expense. It will be to run this nation, preferably not at the citizen's expense.
