On September 10th, candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump faced off in the presidential debate. First, what exactly is the presidential debate? During a presidential election, the Democratic candidate and the republican candidate come together on a stage along with two moderators to be asked questions about their policies and plans if they were to get elected. The two candidates go into the debate blind, meaning they don’t know the questions beforehand and aren’t allowed to bring any notes. It’s structured like an average debate, with time for the candidate to answer the question, then time for the opposition to rebuttal, and then an extra minute for any clarifications from the original candidate. The questions vary from economical to social and depend on what Americans consider the most pressing issues of the time. Most of the questions were centered around economics, with a total discussion time of a little over ten minutes. This was followed by abortion, with a combined total discussion time of almost seven minutes. Foreign policy, Russia/Ukraine, immigration, and healthcare were also discussed. The candidates spent the largest amount of time talking about their character and the opposition, a total of twenty minutes, to be specific. The debate is an essential part of the election process; it allows voters to hear about the candidate’s policies, how prepared they are, and how they act under pressure. While there is no official “winner” of the debate, it often swings voters’ beliefs based on who they believe performed better, so the candidates need to do their best.
Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate for the 2024 election. Harris has been serving as vice president to current president Joe Biden since 2020. Biden was originally going to run for a second time against Trump but dropped out in July and then endorsed Harris as his replacement. Since then, Harris has been vigorously campaigning, especially on social media. Her social media account, Kamala H.Q., has built a massive following since being endorsed. Her account played into popular social media trends like the “Brat Summer” trend; this strategy created a large following of Gen-Z voters who appreciated her ability to keep up with the times. Harris has been praised for how prepared and collected she was during the debate. Harris also used a baiting strategy on Trump to get him off topic and defend himself during his rebuttal. Morgan Clark (10) watched the presidential debate. He said, “I think Kamala Harris was very put together and focused on her standpoints,” she also commented on Donald Trump’s points being “hard to follow” and “kind of a mess.” This has become a popular opinion amongst some voters, who say that Trump often got off topic and strayed away from the original questions asked by the moderators. Many people believe Harris’s side of the debate was very put-together and prepared.
Donald Trump is the Republican candidate for the 2024 election. `If he were to win, this would be his second and final term. He previously won and became president in the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton; he ran for a second term in the 2020 election but lost to the current president, Joe Biden. Some of the major issues that Trump focuses on consist of border control and deportation, inflation, and abortion. Trump began the debate very collected and confident but seemingly became annoyed as the night went on. He was criticized for letting Harris get under his skin and was less focused on the issues that citizens hoped he would discuss. Many criticized both candidates for their lack of focus on actual political issues facing The United States, like the rate of inflation or reproductive rights. Instead, they focused more on insulting and jabbing at the other candidates while making themselves look better. While this is expected, many voters hoped to hear more about the candidate’s stances on the issues than what they think about the other candidate. Ben Phan (10) agrees that the candidates should’ve talked more about their stances and less about each other. “I was disappointed with how much they just insulted each other instead of talking about stuff that matters.”
While the presidential debate is a significant event during a presidential race, contrary to what many might believe, it has minimal impact on voters. A social studies teacher at Wheeler remarked that it has a negligible impact because: “People go into this with already an idea of who they’re going to vote for and they want one of two things: they want to see their person succeed and the other person fail.” People watching the entire debate are more likely to be more politically engaged, and because of that, they already have a candidate they want to do well. The people who would be affected by the debate, those undecided about who they’re voting for, are less likely to watch the discussion. So, while the debate is a significant event, it has little effect on voting numbers.
