The Resident Assistants who organized the event –TJ Magno, Katrina Guido, Niko Lambert, Melina DallaStella, Rebecca Abernethy, and Preston Horan – aimed to make the night fun and informative. Two Stevens professors from the College of Arts and Letters, Joyce Mullan and Billy Middleton, also attended to help answer any questions students had during the debate.
In addition to hors devours such as pigs in a blanket, chicken fingers, berry desserts with whipped cream, there were also activities to get students more engaged such as a mock election, voter registration table, debate word bingo sheets, and an opportunity to get your picture taken with life-size cutouts of both candidates. The bingo cards featured keywords, phrases, and topics including emails, Mexico, and “Make America Great Again.” Each person who attended was given a pamphlet with Q&A style information on the two candidates in the debate as well as Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee. Many students stayed for the entire duration of the debate.
The debate started off with how each candidate would improve the economy, and the topic of jobs. Trump said we’re losing jobs to China Mexico, and Clinton wants to raise minimum wage and the gender pay gap. Discussion soon turned to the candidates’ differing views on taxing the rich.
The debate moved to topics like trade, and whether or not Hillary supported Obama’s trade deal and TPP.
After that, moderator Lester Holt brought about discussion on the fact that Trump hasn’t released in tax returns,s because he’s being audited, which had Hillary asking what he’s hiding.
Of course, Trump brought up Clinton’s email scandal.
The candidates also weighed in on the topic of racial tension and violence in America’s inner cities. Both agreed that there is no acceptable number of murders and stated that America needs to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Trump supported stop-and-frisk, while Hillary called for better relationships between police and black communities.
Another area of agreement was cyber security. Both candidates agreed that the US should improve in using technology to defend ourselves against countries like China and Russia. Clinton brought up how Trump called on Russia to hack her emails, and Trump said we don’t know that and it could be a 400 pound person on their bed.
Trump criticized Clinton for having her plan to fight ISIS on her website, while Clinton requested Trump to tell his plan if he has one. Later, Trump also criticized Clinton for running campaign ads against him and for preparing for the debate. Clinton stated that she prepared for the debates and to be president.
In conclusion, each candidate was asked whether they would support the result of the election. Clinton stated very clearly that the decision is in the hands of the American people and that she believes in democracy. Trump said that he wanted to “make America great again” and that he was the best person to do that. He then added that he would support Clinton if she was elected.
The debate had both moments of civil conversation and rude interruption. It was clear that each candidate had their own debating style. Trump took more of an offensive and blamed Clinton for many of the problems that exist in the country today, including the formation of ISIS. Trump pointed out that she is unlikely to solve any of these problems because she has had many years in government and has yet to do so. However, Trump also had moments when he eloquently stated his position. Clinton made jabs at Trump’s debating skills and his rambling speaking style. She also criticized his experience in business, something that Trump said will help him to be an effective president.
The debate drew about 84 million television viewers, not counting those who watched it at parties, restaurants, or offices, beating the debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan to become the most watched debate in history. The first debate between Obama and Romney in 2012 reached around 67 million viewers. Most viewers continued to watch after thirty minutes.
While most analysts claim that Clinton was the winner of the debate, Trump stole the stage on social media.
Stevens also weighed in on the candidates. Once the ballots were all collected, the results of the mock election were Jill Stein of the Green Party in fourth with 3.8%, Donald Trump in third with 24.1%, Libertarian Gary Johnson in second with 27.8%, and Hillary Clinton won with 44.3%.
Whether clearly aligned with a candidate already or just deciding, this election’s series of debates will certainly be interesting. The next Presidential debate will be on Sunday October 9.
Be First to Comment