Monday’s presidential debate will be the first time both parties will be taking the national stage since the conventions, addressing the public on various topics, including securing America. Our last blog post notes that fighting terrorism was of chief concern to the American public during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. According to our analysis, the Republican Party did a relatively better job at allocating their time to the topic of terrorism, while the Democratic Party did relatively poorly.
American concern for terrorism and the Islamic State remains at the forefront. A number of recent polls, including Gallup opinion polls and major presidential race polls, demonstrate not only a growing concern for terrorism and the Islamic State, but also a discontent for the current administration’s answer to the threat of terrorism.
Other recent polls also expose that voters are taking tougher stances on fighting terrorism and ISIS than many pundits would admit—stances that include taking actions such as increasing U.S. airstrikes, increasing numbers of special operations forces to fight ISIS, and being general more aggressive in defeating terrorism.
A recent Pew Research report shows that voters, Republican and Democrat, would like to hear more about terrorism than any other topic heading into the debates. Additionally, a WSJ poll found that 36% of likely voters view dealings with Libya, Iraq, and Syria as their top concern for Hillary Clinton—surpassing concern for Clinton’s recent health concerns and use of a private server as Secretary of State.
Tonight is our chance to hear who addresses fighting terrorism more, who takes an appropriate stance on it, and which candidate will address it the meaningful way. Enjoy the debates.
Bradley Anderson & Kameron González
TargetPoint Consulting
