| From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray and Carrie Dann
This is hardly 2004, when national security and foreign policy dominated discussion during that year’s Bush-vs.-Kerry presidential race (because of 9/11 and the Iraq war). But in advance of tonight’s NBC/MSNBC Commander-in-Chief Forum featuring both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it’s worth pointing out how important these issues are in this presidential election. And we can count five reasons why:
1. The economy is in better shape than it was four years ago: While the economy isn’t exactly humming (see the 1.1% GDP growth last quarter), it hasn’t played as big of a role as it did in 2012. Indeed, the unemployment rate is down to 4.9% (it was 8.1% at this same time four years ago), and there have been 71-straight months of job growth in the country. So when the economy isn’t front and center, national security and foreign policy take on more importance.
2. The world seems more chaotic than it did four years ago: By contrast, the world also seems much more disruptive than it did four years ago. The Middle East is a mess. Russia has been more aggressive. Not surprisingly, the GOP and Trump have sunk their teeth into these issues and the Iran deal more than on the economy. And it’s quite possible the next president spends more time on international affairs than domestic ones.
3. The rise of ISIS: Speaking of the mess in the Middle East, the rise of ISIS and its planned or inspired terrorist attacks (in Paris, Nice, Orlando, San Bernardino) have certainly colored the landscape of this presidential election.
4. Trump’s inexperience: National security and foreign policy are extra-important to this election because Donald Trump — if he wins — would be the first president of the modern era without any previous government or military experience. Indeed, the May 2016 NBC/WSJ poll found a combined 61% of Americans saying that Trump’s inexperience here made them very uncomfortable or gave them some reservations about him.
5. Hillary’s emails: While Hillary Clinton certainly has more foreign-policy than Trump (due to her four-year tenure as secretary of state), the year-plus-long email scandal has given the opposition fodder to attack Clinton’s record and argue that her carelessness was a national security risk. Click for more. |
