STUDENT WRITING: CLINTON VS TRUMP, MARCH 2016 by GEORGINA SANCHEZ

Clinton Vs Trump

The world has its eyes on a couple of people that could affect their nations. The American presidential campaign is currently taking place, and the Republican and Democratic parties apparently already have their candidates who are involved in a fierce fight. Communication has been a fundamental tool of the political race because it is the battle over the minds of the people who determine the fate of norms and values on which societies are constructed. The rhetoric has created a deep antagonism between supporters of each party reflecting opposing values and interests. Now more than ever Americans are dynamically involved in this political race trying to uncover the hidden truth behind the candidates´ speeches.

Donald Trump appears to relate very well with his audience since he studies what the people´s concerns are. He synthesizes these ideas and puts them into simple and provocative sentences. He also uses strong slogans which he repeats constantly with emotional engagement. In contrast, Hillary Clinton is very careful with her language and her syntax tends to abstraction avoiding particular things by saying “international community” instead of noting a particular country, for instance. She talks in a passive voice, very aware that her words might be misinterpreted or used against her. That´s why she might say, “what people are telling me,” “in general,” and so on. Unfortunately, she has the distinctive sound of a politician, sometimes emotional but most of the time artificial.

Trump´s speeches encourage people to think unfavorably about minorities, including millions of illegal immigrants, selling them, in a blatant but sophisticated way, the idea of white supremacy. On the other hand, Clinton´s speeches are about the fact that America is strong because of its productivity and the cultural wealth of everybody, including minorities.

While Trump´s ideals are to keep the country away from international trade (maybe he wants his own companies to be the center of America´s economy,) Clinton´s ideals are to be open to trade in order to generate the flow of capital, productivity, and jobs.

I could add several statements made by each candidate that exhibit Trump´s tendency to chaos and show Clinton´s tendency to right sense. But the truth is that Trump´s speeches connect a lot more with people because he stands up for his deluded ideals and has no fear of getting hurt, while Clinton always wants to be clean without taking any punches. Clinton´s approach does not do her justice because it makes her look like the privileged class, so far apart from the majority of people.

Unfortunately, Trump can win the elections for the wrong reasons even though Clinton has the right skills to run, protect, and keep America great.