As the 2024 Presidential Election rapidly approaches, debates, conventions, and rallies have stolen the eyes of Western media and our ever-shortening attention spans. Whether you watched it for comedy or genuine fear for our nation’s future, there is no doubt you have seen clips and opinions circulating the internet regarding the 2024 Presidential Debate between Former President Trump and Vice President Harris. As of right now, Harris is leading the National Polls by 2.8% with a comparison of 49.3% to 46.5% of national votes, the last poll being October 8th. In Connecticut, she is leading the polls by 16% with the 57% to 41% split in state votes, the last poll being September 23rd. Here in Clinton, during the 2020 presidential election, our town had a voter turnout of 77%, with the majority voting Democrat. The legal age to vote is 18, which for most students here at Morgan, is not far into our future. As the next generation of voters, students our age must remain up-to-date and educated on the policies and effects that will take place over the course of the next four years following this election. When students and staff members of The Morgan School were asked a few questions pertaining to their reaction and opinion on the debate, as well as predictions for the future election, they responded with a wide range of answers. They were also asked to comment on issues they felt like both candidates failed to address well enough or even address at all. Many criticized both Trump and Harris. Some students said it was like a circus. Below are some of their responses
Christopher Zawadski, AP United States Government and Politics, Sports and American Culture, U.S. History: “I didn’t think there was enough policy being discussed. There was nothing about what they’re actually going to accomplish. It was more name-calling and stuff that either of them didn’t do as opposed to how they were going to do [in the next 4 years]. I think the biggest [issue that wasn’t addressed well] was about health care and Trump only having ‘concepts of a plan’.
I would say that Harris won the debate. I don’t think it was a very strong debate performance, but it looked like she was the one who was better prepared. The fact-checking was a big thing people were upset about. Part of me thinks the moderators should do their job and fact-check but part of me thinks the American public needs to be smarter and have common sense. I don’t think there was enough discussion on healthcare and on the economy. They talked about the economy, but what are either of them actually going to do, especially for the middle class?
[The election is] going to come down to the swing states, specifically if Kamala loses Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is going to be a huge state for her; without that, I’m not sure how she’s going to get the vote. She can’t afford to lose that.”
Mason Jakober, Senior: “I thought the debate was a poor show for both candidates. Trump further explained his policy stances, but he made some claims with questionable validity that were so outrageous that it immediately made people question him. Kamala essentially studied really hard specific buzz phrases and words that Americans like to hear. Both candidates lied excessively and dodged questions. I also thought the moderator targeted Trump more than Kamala; such things make sense though, as ABC is a traditionally left-leaning network.
Only people who are susceptible to the glittering generalities made by Kamala believe she won, and Trump didn’t gain or lose anything from it, nor did he perform to standard. Foreign affairs should have received a lot more attention; our world is teetering on the edge of a 3rd world war, and it should be the main thing discussed, but it received minimal time.
I think it will be a very close election My one recommendation for voters is don’t vote for who can best run the country, someone with the most merit. Compare both administrations and vote for who did better. Don’t fall for media tropes or virtue signaling; ‘fall for’ merit.'”
Rachel Shook, World History, Criminal Law, and Psychology: “I definitely thought it was better than the previous debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I kind of knew immediately how that first debate was going to go based on how Biden walked out. I think in this current debate, Kamala Harris spent a lot of time preparing and that definitely showed. I think that Harris did better in her responses, directly answering a question, looking at the camera, and not getting flustered in a way, whereas Trump was not directly answering questions. When the moderator said he didn’t answer and asked it again he still couldn’t answer the yes or no question.
I thought the economic stuff was Harris’ weakest answer. She was talking a lot about tax credits but didn’t go into how or where that money was coming from. That was a part where she could have dove more into policy and give people more insight. The moderators could have pushed back regarding the cost of items. when you’re charging a 20% tariff [suggested by Trump], the companies themselves aren’t just eating that, it trickles down to us as the consumers so how do you combat that?
I don’t know [who’s going to win the election], it’s hard to say. Democrats usually, when they think they’re in a good position; don’t show up [to vote]. The same could be said for Republicans, if they think they’re in a good position; they don’t show up either. That just makes me nervous across the board that not enough people get out to vote. They become too complacent, they are just used to politics the way that it is, so why bother changing this? But voting definitely does change things.”
Charlotte Racho, Junior: “Our country is doomed. It’s not politics, it’s a bunch of personal beef. I don’t think either of them won, but I feel like Kamala was more mature in her responses, Trump was just yapping about China and immigrants eating dogs. They should have addressed gun control more especially with the recent shooting in Georgia literally like a week ago. Trump saying ‘she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison’ is just crazy, that quote stuck out to me. Overall, I think it’s going to be a really close election.”
Rayna Vanderwood, Junior: “I feel like it’s just one big circus. At this point it’s not even about politics, it’s about who has the better personality. I feel like more time was spent attacking each other than actually trying to win the debate. Healthcare is something that is always brought up, but neither of them actually had plans. Trump’s line, ‘They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats’ [stuck out to me]. I think the elections are going to be really close; it’s going to come down to the voter turnout and who actually votes.”
Demani Howard, Senior: “It’s clear that Trump is spreading blatant misinformation to all of America. Every politician lies, but her lies are normal politicians who are trying to get more support. His lies are directly harming people. Considering how much they had to fact-check him, I would say that Kamala won. Just in general; [Trump’s] speaking skills are not good, he’s rambling on and on, not making any sense.
I find it so interesting how he and the people on his side get mad at fact-checking. They don’t want to be held accountable for their lies, they know they are lies but when they get fact-checked they continue to push out lies to the weak-minded public. People are complaining about gas prices and everything, the reason gas prices were cheaper under Trump was because of Obama. He was riding on the coattails of Obama’s economy, claiming that he was the one who fixed it. Policy-wise, Trump doesn’t have any plans. [Having] ‘concepts of a plan’ means he doesn’t have any. Kamala Harris has clearly stated what her views on the economy are.
When it comes to MAGA support, I genuinely don’t understand why can’t we just treat each other as humans. Like gay, lesbian, trans people, why does that matter if they’re gay or trans? They think it’s indoctrinating kids when all they want is to be accepted and make it known that they exist. Yes, there is some way to far-left people, but look at the amount of far-left extremists and far-right extremists. There are way more extremists on the right. “
Laura Luther, AP Spanish, Spanish 4: I felt very sad; politics has gone so far and has gotten so lost. The candidates need to be transparent on the issues that matter to the people like gun control, school safety, the economy, jobs, prices, and inflation. They need to talk about the real issues and not just throw mud at each other. The election is going to be super close; so close, I’m thinking of a possible ballot recount.
Eric Bergman, English 3, Film Study, Creative Writing: “I was less than impressed with the debate. I felt that it lacked substance. We live in a world dominated by personality and not policy. Clearly there should have been other people on that stage. We devolved into a state of spectacle rather than actual governance. [The two-party system] is the illusion of democracy. The fact that our national debt was not discussed, our foreign trade deficit was not discussed, our bloated military budget was not discussed, as well as the fact that our energy supply is less than ideal. It’s all a distraction, it’s all carnival. I have no idea or sense of how the election will turn out. I was hoping there would be more people on the ballot but unless you consider rank-choice voting or something akin to alternative forms of voting, it’s never going to change.”
Savannah Powell, Junior: “I thought it was a bit childish if I’m being honest. I feel like they are not discussing anything actually important that is going on in the country right now. It was a lot of bashing without any plans. They didn’t really talk about the school shootings, which are getting really bad and they did not even say a word. It could have been a lot better, it sucked. In my opinion, I would say Trump won because he does have some sort of plan for our country and he has sources to back himself up instead of just pointing fingers. He seemed very confident in what he was saying. Previous elections, as we can see, didn’t go very well. They are not honest, so I do think that Kamala has a chance of winning this year’s election. It’s very corrupt. I just feel like somehow or some way she’s going to do it. She’s going to make it and we’re all screwed. I do think Trump won the last election, I think they completely messed up the count. They knew what they were doing.”
Conner Morran, Algebra 1 & 2: I enjoyed it. I thought a lot of people watched it which was definitely exciting and interesting, it’s cool to get so much attention towards it. I’m hoping that a lot of people vote in November. From how I saw her, I think Kamala did a good job but it was based more on how Trump looked. I know a lot of people were hoping he was more calm and rational but what he ended up saying was proven to be not true. They didn’t talk about gun control as much as I would have liked for such a serious problem in America right now. There is a lot of talk about plans for schools and the Department of Ed like cutting funding for schools that support critical race theory and trans rights. As a teacher who works for this school, that’s a scary subject. What would that look like if a candidate like that is elected? What do I do as a teacher? It’s terrifying stuff. It would have been nice if there was a talk during the debate about that. Kamala Harris has tons of support, but there is so much support for Trump’s side too which makes [the situation] beyond baffling.
Katherine Barrera-Sanchez, Junior: I genuinely did not see the purpose of it. They were both just arguing like little kids, neither of them really made any points. Personally, because I support Kamala more than Trump, I would say Kamala did make more points than Trump did. Also, Trump basically didn’t answer any of the questions that were being asked. He kept changing the conversation and pointing fingers at other people. Trump’s plan on immigration and deportation was poor. He wasn’t able to do it the first time, and he definitely won’t be able to do it again, especially in bigger amounts [of immigrants] like he says he will. He’s all talk.
