OPINION
THE
EDITORIAL BOARD
America
Deserves a Better Campaign From Both Candidates
July 26,
2024
By The
Editorial Board
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/26/opinion/kamala-harris-donald-trump-debate.html
The
editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by
expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate
from the newsroom.
Vice
President Kamala Harris, now the likely Democratic nominee, has the chance to
encourage and embrace the kind of close examination that the public so far has
had little opportunity to witness during the 2024 race.
Americans
deserve a campaign that tests the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates;
that highlights their differences and allows scrutiny of their plans; that
motivates people to vote by giving them a clear account of how their choice in
this election will affect their lives.
Americans
deserve the opportunity to ask questions of those who are seeking to lead their
government.
There are
promising signs in the early days of Ms. Harris’s candidacy. She has bounced
onto the campaign trail with a sense of joyful purpose, seizing the opening to
reintroduce herself. She has begun to detail the dangers of a second Trump
presidency and to delineate her differences with Donald Trump, while describing
her vision for a country where people have the support they need to prosper.
But she
needs to do more, and she needs to do it quickly. Ms. Harris ought to challenge
Mr. Trump to a series of debates or town halls on subjects of national
importance, such as the economy, foreign policy, health care and immigration.
Mr. Trump claims that he is ready and willing to participate in debates once
Democrats have officially selected a nominee. Americans would benefit from
comparing the two candidates directly.
Both
candidates need to start taking questions from reporters, too. Candidates have
abundant opportunities to speak directly to voters, through social media and
tightly controlled public appearances, without the mediation of journalists.
Most voters, however, will never be able to speak directly with candidates.
President Biden has rarely granted the news media permission to ask questions
on behalf of the American people, and on the rare occasions he did, his team
sometimes sent scripted questions. It left him poorly prepared for the campaign
trail and for confronting his opponent. Mr. Trump, too, rarely takes questions.
Ms. Harris has the chance to do better.
Engaging
with voters is especially important for Ms. Harris because she would be the
first major-party presidential candidate in modern times who did not pass
through the state primary process, in which voters have a chance to take the
measure of candidates and to ask questions about the issues that matter most to
their communities.
Ms. Harris’s
candidacy does not require legitimation. She is the clear choice of her party.
An Ipsos poll this week found that 89 percent of Democrats supported her
running as the party’s nominee. But addressing small crowds in small places and
answering questions from local reporters are rituals during the primaries for a
reason. Unlike large public rallies, they are occasions for encounters on equal
footing, and they are an education for the candidate as much as for voters.
With debates
and town halls, Ms. Harris would also have an opportunity to draw an even
starker contrast with Mr. Trump. Presidential campaigns increasingly are
conducted as performances before a sympathetic audience, one that is invited to
watch and listen but not to question or respond. The false intimacy of social
media gives the impression that candidates are more present than ever in the
lives of their supporters, but those relationships are one-way streets.
Candidates are seen by the electorate but they do not see; they are heard but
they do not hear.
Mr. Trump,
who speaks mostly about Mr. Trump, is an extreme example of this tendency — and
it is a perfect embodiment of his politics. If Trump campaign officials were
reluctant to have their candidate appear at large outside rallies in the wake
of the assassination attempt against him, no one would question that fear. His
campaign, however, continues to exist primarily as a series of long, winding
speeches that offer no insight into how he would end the war in Ukraine or how
he would solve the crisis at the border, two of the many goals he has promised
to accomplish if re-elected. The former president has barely been pressed on
important policy questions or offered any concrete plans.
Both
candidates say they are running for office to help ordinary Americans. One way
for Americans to judge those claims is by their campaigns. Good leaders speak,
and they listen. They welcome scrutiny. They accept responsibility. Ms. Harris
now has a chance to demonstrate that she will be the kind of leader who
deserves the nation’s support.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário