Sunday, September 18, 2016

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton ?

The presidential contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is becoming more interesting by the day. Their styles are different, their abilities vary and the only thing common between them is their low level of credibility.

Trump is a rank outsider to Washington politics whereas Clinton was born and bred in it. Trump has been a longtime businessman facing both successes and failures. He has authored books (perhaps ghost-written) conveying practical lessons for doing business. If presidency is considered as CEO-ship, there is no reason why he is not acceptable as president.

Clinton (SHillary Clinton as Nassim Nicholas Taleb derisively calls her) is a past master of politics and intrigues. Her substitution of private email for legally mandated government email while functioning as Secretary of State under President Obama was typical of her guile. Well-connected and well-funded, she is a formidable contestant. However, she is not invincible as Obama's easy victory over her in presidential primaries in 2008 had showed.

Trump is waxing proud about his health despite his over-weight. Clinton's unseemly unsteadiness in a recent function in remembrance of 9-11 has certainly created suspicions in many minds. Her critics have pounced on this ill-luck to declare that her problem is both her health and her stealth. Her normally sophisticated expressions are in striking contrast to Trump's uncouth style of making polarising comments.

It is surprising that American media is overwhelmingly in favour of Hillary Clinton. This may create some sympathy for Trump in people's mind. This is one of the reasons why sometimes underdogs ultimately prevail.

Everyone looks forward in anxious expectation to November 8th which day will  decide global destiny for the next four years.

Added on October 11: It is a pity that the choice is between a groper and a schemer. There are two more candidates in the fray namely Mr.Johnson and Dr.Stein. Johnson is a Republican, a former Governor of New Mexico, a social libertine and a fiscal conservative. He is known for his abject ignorance of anything that is not American. Stein is a doctor from Harvard University and  an espouser of Green issues. She is  a Democrat.

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