August 02, 2016, 06:54 pm
Grieving families shape '16 debate
By Niall Stanage
Grieving families are playing a significant role in this year’s general election campaign.
None have done so with more impact than Khizr and Ghazala Khan, who dominated the news for much of the past week after denouncing Donald Trump at the Democratic convention.
But both parties’ election campaigns have featured testimony from people dealing with personal loss.
Patricia Smith, whose son Sean was one of the four Americans killed in Benghazi in 2012, excoriated Hillary Clinton from the stage of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The GOP summit also featured speeches from parents who had a child killed by an illegal immigrant.
The Democratic gathering in Philadelphia featured not just the Khans, but a group that has come to be known as the “Mothers of the Movement” — mothers of young, black Americans who have been killed in contentious circumstances, several of them during clashes with law enforcement.
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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/290198-grieving-families-shape-2016-debate
