The first debate for the Republican presidential candidates aspiring to earn their Party’s nomination was a circus, with the clown, Donald Trump, as the main attraction.
The debate showed us what we already knew: that Trump is rude, inappropriate, misogynous, anti-immigrant, a liar and the best gift to the Democratic Party in this election.
We can understand why the Republican leaders can’t sleep at night: Donald Trump continues to bring great harm to the Republican brand, more so than the harm that its primitive and antiquated policies have already done.
Trump was not as serious a candidate as compared to his other competitors on stage. But it appeared that Trump didn’t hurt himself at all. Gov. Scott Walker and Gov. Jeb Bush, on the contrary, suffered from a lack of enthusiasm, of wit and of any semblance of fire in their souls.
The debate from two Thursday’s ago didn’t change much for Trump, but indeed changed the popularity of the other candidates. For example, Bush lost a lot because it came across so weak. But above all, what the debate showed us – women, minorities, Latinos, young people and middle-class families – is that Republican policies would slow down the country and lead us backward into an era of antiquated and regressive politics.
Consider this: a few weeks ago we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Medicare, the health program that has been a sacred compromise between the United States and its elderly citizens. Still, Bush recently said that he wants to eliminate Medicare, and almost all of the Republican candidates agree.
On education, Democrats support plans to make college more affordable for more families. Meanwhile, Republican senators have voted against those plans to allow for refinancing of student loans, and Republican governors have drastically cut funding for public education in their states.
And equal pay is not just a women’s issue: it is a family and economic issue. Republicans have consistently opposed legislation that would guarantee fair pay for women, legislation that would bring us closer to the promise of equal compensation. Sen. Marco Rubio even said that to debate such fair pay legislation is “wasting time.”
On the issue of salaries, we know that the Democrats want to help workers toward an increase in the minimum wage and strengthen programs of family and medical leave. On earlier occasions, Scott Walker has compared unions and the people working in Wisconsin to defend their rights with the inhumane terrorists of ISIS.
Concerning immigration reform, Latinos already know the terrible history of the GOP. In particular, Rubio has shown that he is no leader on immigration issues. He abandoned his own immigration platform after elements of the Tea Party began criticizing his position. Jeb Bush also abandoned his position supporting a path to citizenship, for political reasons. And we all know about Donald Trump, the leader in all of the current polls, who wants to deport all undocumented immigrants.
The GOP debate was a fun show, but it was also a chilling look backward regarding the policies these candidates would support if elected president. Our country and Latino community deserve a leader who will follow the course of progress and not a return to failure for families and for our country.
This article originally appeared in Spanish in the Washington Hispanic.
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