ISIS and Putin Drive Election Topics

Much of the conversation at both national party conventions was driven by foreign actors – ISIS and Vladimir Putin.

Part of the so-called “dark” aspect of the Republican Convention was the anti-terrorism rhetoric and speeches that were reinforced by near daily headlines of some terrorist atrocity: the Nice Bastille Day attacks, multiple Germany attacks, which along with the Normandy Church, overlapped with the Democratic convention. This list doesn’t include the Middle East and South Asia attacks during the two convention weeks.

Democrats uncomfortably tried to ignore the issue. But, they were also beset by a foreign intrusion in the form of a WikiLeaks release of DNC emails that boosted the anti-establishment hostility of the thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters. It took ending the DNC chair’s career and numerous symbolic actions to tamp down a mini insurrection. Bizarrely, it appears Russian hackers were the source of the purloined emails.

In the short-term, Republicans appeared to have been the beneficiaries. Although, Donald Trump with his pro-Russian remarks began to look like the “Siberian Candidate.”