Issues may overlap; approaches differ: Democrat's Dasheika Ruffin at event in Mumbai

When the US goes to vote the world watches and listens even during the runup Alison Williams Republican and Dasheika Ruffin Democrat were speakers at an event held on Tuesday morning at the US Consulate Bandra Kurla Complexs BKC Dosti House The speakers addressed political science students in a session that was about the US elections slated for November 5 ballot issues and approaches and the diversity debate which is a big part of the narrativeCommon concernsBoth Williams and Ruffin spoke to the press before the formal panel discussion session To a question about Democrats and Republicans not being so black n white there are a few commonalities Ruffin agreed She said about overlapping issues ldquoInflation is a common concern I think the difference in how we approach bringing down inflation that is what differsrdquoWilliams said in response to a question about the big Imdashimmigration ldquoBoth parties agree that immigration needs to be addressed Tactics are different For former president Donald Trump it is very much about putting up a border wall and physical barriers For other presidents there may be more concern with digital data and tracking things like thatrdquoThe overarching message though was that concerns may be common but approaches vary Ruffin was asked about womens empowerment given that Kamala Harris is in the race and she said ldquoThere is an energy around her and the number of rallies volunteers and firsttime donors show itrdquo Williams added ldquoIt is about bringing women into the conversationrdquoHigh voltageDosti may not be the most apt adjective to refer to the current Kamala Harris Vs Donald Trump verbal slugfest as the US races towards the ballot box approximately two months from now but that is to be expected in a highoctane election which has global eyeballs trained on itRuffin and Williams moved on to the main panel discussion addressing students and a few older persons in the audience The moderator began by asking the speakers to explain some key electoral terms The speakers said a term people hear of a lot is Swing States or Battleground Statesrsquo ldquoThese are states that can be potentially won by either candidate You will see the most engagement from the candidates in these statesrdquo explained RuffinBig issuesThe speakers outlined certain seminal issues this election There is inflation Ruffin said ldquoInflation is through the roofhellip the price of groceries milk eggs bread and even gas When we make pronouncements like the economy has bounced back postCOVID people are not feeling itrdquo The speakers also pointed to reproductive rightsmdasha prominent issue in these polls and immigration which is always centre stageDuring the interaction session an audience member pointed to coalition governments in India and asked if there was any room for a coalition government in the US Ruffin said ldquoWe have two major parties in the USmdashthe Democrats and the Republicans We do have other parties but they have not grown as much as the major parties The thirdparty or parties are sometimes seen as spoilers taking away votes from someonerdquoWilliams added ldquoIn the US we have the party which is first past the post as they say in horse racing You may not get the majority vote but if you get more than the other candidate you winrdquo