Dirty US Election Campaign

In the race for the office of president, a duel between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton looms.

One of the dirtiest election campaigns in the history of the country looms in the U.S., and the duelists are already going at one another even before they have been officially named presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have declared war on one another. Although the Democratic former secretary of state has a better chance, it has not been determined by a long shot who will succeed President Barack Obama.

The Indiana primary decided in favor of Trump. His fiercest competitor, Ted Cruz, withdrew from the election campaign after a heavy loss to the real estate billionaire. Shortly afterward, John Kasich took his leave as well. In any case, the governor of Ohio was only considered a token candidate. With this, Trump practically has the Republican presidential nomination in his pocket. On the other side, Clinton lost the Democratic primary in Indiana to Bernie Sanders, however, she maintained her large lead over the senator from Vermont.

Trump declared confidently that he will clearly beat Clinton in the November presidential election: “We’re going to start winning again and we’re going to win bigly,” Trump said. Polls up to now nevertheless predict the opposite. The New York real estate mogul primarily has white lower class support, and he is hardly popular among women and minorities. The question remains, however, whether Trump can mobilize enough first-time voters in decisive states to land in front of Clinton.

The election campaign between the experienced politician Clinton and the populist Trump is becoming tough. Trump could deny Clinton the opportunity to hold the most important office in the country. He has already repeatedly said that the wife of former President Bill Clinton doesn’t have the right stuff to be a good president. His presumed challenger would be neither strong nor persevering enough to be able to do the job. The Democrat is incompetent and deceitful, he says.

The Clinton camp has also announced the desire to proceed aggressively against Trump. According to advisers, the former secretary of state has for years grown accustomed to dealing with sexists and malicious remarks. She has not only survived this, but she has grown because of it. Clinton accuses Trump of wanting to divide U.S. society with his remarks. The billionaire would like to build a wall on the border with Mexico and forbid Muslims to enter the United States. Clinton called Trump dangerous and too great a risk for America.

Nonetheless, Clinton is also vulnerable. Because of her past as a first lady, senator and secretary of state, she is considered to be a symbol of the fossilized Washington political establishment that millions of Americans in this election year oppose and who are defecting in droves to Trump or to the Democratic left-wing outsider Bernie Sanders. Clinton will now have to try to win the support of the “democratic socialist” for herself. That could ultimately secure her election as the first female U.S. president.

But the New York real estate entrepreneur also faces unusual challenges. He must attract important Republicans to his side, Republicans who lament Trump’s success. His inner-party competitors first viewed the triumphal march of the populist in the past months with surprise, made fun of Trump and began to put up resistance much too late. Today the Republicans find themselves in the unpleasant position of having to name a presidential candidate the party establishment detests, and who, according to surveys, is unpopular with more than half of all Americans. The Clinton election campaign team will not allow itself to make the mistake of underestimating Trump.

Moreover, it is unclear whether Trump’s attacks on Clinton will have the same desired effect as they did against his Republican rivals. Up to now, his supporters have only reacted to the candidate’s “qualities” with enthusiasm. This darling of enraged citizens who reject the Washington system and see themselves as losers in globalization threw 16 competitors out of the race.