Last Wednesday night, 14 million viewers tuned in to watch the Republican debate. However, that was not the most compelling political event of the evening. While the ten Republican candidates discussed tax reforms, immigration policies, and Social Security, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hosted a National Student Town Hall at George Mason University. More than three hundred college campuses held watch parties, and students from all fifty states tuned into hear Sanders expound at length upon the perils of climate change and racial inequality. In sharp contrast, the Republicans barely bothered to mention these pressing, complex problems facing our democracy.
Right from the start of his fiery speech, Sanders emphasized that Washington had to address climate change. Warning his audience that “the planet that we will be leaving to your kids and grandchildren will not be a very healthy or habitable planet” if the government failed to act, Sanders promised to “transform our energy system.” Sanders then ceded the floor to Frank Fritz, a student from George Washington who has led efforts to divest the university from fossil fuels.
Throughout the town hall, Sanders also harped upon racial discrimination and injustice. He lambasted flaws in our criminal justice system, underscoring that blacks and Latinos were disproportionately imprisoned. The senator accentuated that although blacks and whites use marijuana at about the same rate, blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession. Additionally, Sanders cited that youth unemployment is at 51% for African-American high-school graduates, drastically higher than the 33% of white high-school graduates who are unemployed. Likewise, when George Mason senior Remaz Abdelgader asked the senator about Islamophobia, Sanders hugged her, replying, “Let me be very personal here if I might. I’m Jewish. My father’s family died in concentration camps. I will do everything that I can to rid this country of the ugly stain of racism which has existed for far too many years.”
The Republican debate glossed over both global warming and racial inequality. Although CNBC advertised that the debate would be substantive and policy-oriented, candidates refrained from touching upon these challenging topics. The debate was over two hours long, yet environmental issues remained unmentioned until the very end, when moderator Becky Quick asked Governor Chris Christie why he, unlike many of his fellow Republicans, supported combating climate change. Christie gave a well-reasoned response, emphasizing that “we should invest in all types of energy” through public-private partnerships. Nevertheless, no candidate followed up on Christie’s remarks; the issue was not brought up again, despite the fact that 70% of Americans think that there is scientific evidence for global warming.
Moreover, candidates eschewed talking about racial inequities. The words “discrimination,” “racism,” “Islamophobia,” “anti-Semitism,” “bigotry,” and “prejudice” were left unsaid. “Race” was used only twice in the debate, both times in reference to the presidential “race.” When candidates spoke of “inequality,” they solely spoke about “income inequality.” Unlike Sanders’ Town Hall, this debate featured no discussion of disproportionate arrest rates between blacks and whites, nor any heartfelt remarks about persecution of minorities in America.
The debate focused primarily on fiscal issues. However, this does not justify the lack of discourse on climate change and racial inequality. Both global warming and discrimination of minorities are not only social dilemmas, but they also have a tremendous impact on the economy. After all, as Sen. Sanders mentioned, more than half of young African-American high school graduates are unemployed. Frank Fritz underscored that storms like Hurricane Sandy, which caused billions of dollars of damages to New Jersey and New York, are “only going to become more frequent and more powerful until we stop pouring greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.” Conversations about these two issues would have fit perfectly into the Republicans’ discussion of the American economy.
In addition, several Republicans criticized the CNBC moderators for not asking good questions. Sen. Ted Cruz earned perhaps the loudest applause of the evening when he exclaimed, “How about talking about the substantive issues the people care about?” Nonetheless, the candidates had ample opportunity to delve into their own policies. Indeed, they often sidestepped the moderators’ questions to talk about their own agendas. The fact that candidates did not use any of their allotted time to even touch upon climate change and racial inequality is emblematic of how little attention they pay to these problems.
Many pundits have often wondered how Donald Trump is able to remain near the top of the polls, given that he has barely provided any concrete policy proposals. A better question to ask might be: “Why are leading Republican candidates completely ignoring climate change and racial inequality?” Sen. Sanders understands the importance of discussing these problems. It’s time the Republicans discuss them as well.