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What effect do you think the increasingly bitter U.S. presidential campaign is having on the U.S. image around the world?

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Elections are meant to be bitter and hard fought.

I think this is normal because its the opinion of the american masses thats put to test here.

Images could be changed in due course of time for good or bad. And I think US is good enough to do the repair work later if required. Its a nation of immigrants which still manages to attract best brains from around the world.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

I think this presidential campaign is one of three factors that are making the U.S. one of the most despised countries in the world (the other two factors being the nation's insane love affair with guns and its worsening race relations in some cities). Of course, I know millions of people still want to emigrate to the U.S. each year and its pop culture rules the world. I've had many enjoyable holidays in the U.S. but have no desire to go there anymore.

What the world is looking for is stability from U.S. political leaders and rational policies, and all we get is a vicious political campaign. Where are the decent candidates that someone from either side of the political spectrum can admire and respect? I've traveled to eight countries in the last six months and in every one of them, people shake their heads in disbelief at the choice of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Is that the best the country can do?

It would also help if the U.S. presidential campaign didn't start about two years before the election with potential candidates saying they might or might not run, and then all those ridiculous primaries. It makes the country's political process unnecessarily drawn out and expensive.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

A common remark is that the USA comprises around 300 milion people, and all they come with to run the country are these two!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A common remark is that the USA comprises around 300 milion people, and all they come with to run the country are these two!

Hillary is arguably the most qualified candidate ever to run for president.

So your comment makes no sense.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Well here in Japan, the tabloid press is REALLY hoping that Trump wins. I'm sure you saw the tabloid papers with nude pictures of Trump's wife right on the front cover where anyone, any age, walking into a convenience store could see them by the door. But the tabloids have portrayed the election like a cheap afternoon soap opera, and their main problem is how to translate all the names Trump has for his opponents.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Made the US into mostly a joke, has probably ruined its image for at least 50 years

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I don't know that I know anyone whose image of "American people" has been affected by this Trump ridiculousness - just their image of American systems.

And I've got no problem with that. America isn't the only way to approach democracy, even if there are a lot of Americans who don't see that yet because they've never been abroad. Hopefully, our absurdity gives other democratic countries reason to value their different approaches to democracy.

That said, I have a pretty big problem with media institutions exploiting the Trump phenomenon with superficial analysis for 6 months just to make a quick buck, driving this debate along the least productive lines, and then when it's apparent to everyone just how absurd this whole thing has gotten, holding their hands in the air and pretending this is all the fault of the American people. Just a few "news" organizations getting off their asses and doing some meaningful research on Trump way back at the beginning of the campaign could have avoided this whole outcome, but instead they chose the low-effort approach of endlessly passing around the same shallow stories about Trump that initially fed into his hype machine. Trump isn't just a product of America, he's the product of the media that reports on America.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Why is there a campaign? Americans do not elect the president, the Electoral College does.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

none really, other than to confirm existing prejudices.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

You ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait until the debates. Hillary has more dirt under the rug, and more skeletons in her closet than many third-world dictators.

I wonder if Wiki leaks and the Russian hackers will expose more of Hillary's dirt? We may not have to wait until the debates to see blood spilled, or hear her called "Hillary Rotten Clinton" on the podium.

It is all like reality TV, and that can only benefit the likes of Trump.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Just have the candidates give a talk and answer questions in front of the Electoral College for an evening. Then they vote. Very simple.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

We already knew presidential elections in most countries and in the us in particular have become a circus where defamatory comments, personal attacks and biased media are de rigueur so no surprise here.

I actually think the vast majority of Americans agree with that too. But in a world run by Murdoch and other media tycoons you need flashy, loud and corruptible candidates to win elections.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As a politically attuned Canadian I can only shake my head and hope it's over soon. Both candidates are sad examples of a country that's lost its way. I see a repeat of the Roman Empire when it was collapsing, and it won't matter which of the two candidates ends up in the oval office.

When I see the media headlines, now, I don't read the stories. They're all the same, regardless of topic - fear-mongering, prejudice and hate.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

The US image around the world? It was already at the lowest it could possibly be.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The US image around the world? It was already at the lowest it could possibly be.

It was at the end of Bush's presidency. It's improved in almost every part of the world since then. This campaign has a lot of the world shaking its head though.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

What effect do you think the increasingly bitter U.S. presidential campaign is having on the U.S. image around the world?

Not much. Most of the world already thinks us Americans are mindless, violent thugs who will shoot you between the eyes just as soon as engage you in a debate. Trump's just furthering the stereotype.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln 16th President of the United States

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Of the millions of people who will vote, I would imagine no more than a dozen will give a moment's thought to "the U.S. image around the world."

What makes non-US citizens think their opinion (usually uninformed) matters in a US election? Do the Brits here appreciate it when Americans inject their pointed opinions on UK politics? Do they care? Of course not. Why would the other way around be any different?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

What makes non-US citizens think their opinion (usually uninformed) matters in a US election?

I agree with you that most US voters will not be placing the image of the US in outsiders' eyes as a point of consideration in their voting, that just shows the lack of clarity that US voters have. The US does not live in a vacuum, and with a world economy, a Trump presidency would be disastrous for the US economy. If Trump became president, investors would lose confidence in the American markets, tanking said markets, as well as the US dollar. See the Brexit campaign for an example. This would have a direct impact on voters lives.

So while US voters won't consider the image of America in their vote, they should.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"What makes non-US citizens think their opinion (usually uninformed) matters in a US election? Do the Brits here appreciate it when Americans inject their pointed opinions on UK politics? Do they care? Of course not. Why would the other way around be any different?"

Many people from outside the UK do give their opinions on UK politics - the referendums on Scottish independence and UK membership of the EU affected the rest of the world. They are allowed their say.

The last time a GOP president was in office he embroiled himself and the UK in a filthy bloodbath in Iraq. Oh, he also saw the world economy go off the cliff on his watch leading to the election of a Conservative coalition government in the UK which introduced painful austerity policies.

It affects many people. Trump could be cataclysmic.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

investors would lose confidence in the American markets, tanking said markets, as well as the US dollar.

When reality takes hold, that's going to happen no matter who is president. I think the only reason it hasn't happened yet is because as bad as American markets and financial mismanagement are, they are as bad or worse almost everywhere else these days. Still, this is a shoe that has to drop sooner or later. Blaming it on Trump would be like intentionally leaving a gas line open and blaming the first person who uses a lighter for the explosion.

The jury is out on Brexit. Short term market drops for long term gain is my opinion. In another 5 years or so, the UK will be sitting pretty while Europe languishes.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

When reality takes hold, that's going to happen no matter who is president.

Trump becoming president would in and of itself cause a lack of investor confidence. The same can not be said of Hillary. So no, you can't say it's going to happen no matter who is president.

Blaming it on Trump would be like intentionally leaving a gas line open and blaming the first person who uses a lighter for the explosion.

No, because Trump being president is the gasoline and the lighter. He has already stated he is going to shake things up, and he has already pointed out ridiculous ways in which he would do so - this is what shakes investor confidence. Hillary on the other hand mainly wants to keep doing what is already being done - which gives investors confidence at least short to mid-term that things will be ok, thereby not destroying their confidence.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If you say so. I'd say the market has a 50/50 chance of crashing big even before the election, simply because the economic fundamentals are increasingly out of whack. This mess has been building for 40 years, so it would be ridiculous to blame it on Trump or any other single person. No doubt that's exactly what the media will do, though.

When I talk about reality taking hold, reality can come in many forms. Regarding the presidential race, Trump represents one form of reality, a very angry and disenfranchised middle class. If Trump disappeared tomorrow, this class of angry people would still continue to grow, and possibly go for an even more extreme candidate in the future. Even this time around, we were pretty close to getting a Marxist candidate.

Clinton promises that the good life can continue indefinitely. The problem with that is not just that it can't. The problem is that fewer and fewer people feel they have a share in the good life anymore. And to fix things, i will have to get worse before it gets better, so that's not going to happen. It will have to collapse through the stupid decisions of politicians who promised the world. I'd rather we go through that process sooner than later, when it will only be more painful.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Couldn't be doing us (I'm an American) much good at all !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Not much. Most of the world already thinks us Americans are mindless, violent thugs who will shoot you between the eyes just as soon as engage you in a debate.

That not true. See here:

http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/1/

and here

http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/06/23/1-americas-global-image/

Generally, 'the world' likes Americans, and worries about America. A good chunk of the worry isn't that we invade countries now and then; its that we invade the wrong country.

Trump, of course, is a disaster. Because most people, friend and foe, want America to be stable and predictable.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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