by Jordan Green, News Editor
With her black mask covering her face, Northwestern sophomore Savannah Francis sat in the Student Center ballroom Tuesday night, hoping to learn more about the two men vying for the most powerful political office in the world.
As the debate dragged on, however, the sophomore political science major from Talequah, Oklahoma, said she wasn’t hearing what she wanted to. She took a deep breath.
“It’s kind of a mess, honestly,” she said. “I’m not really big on either candidate, so I’m trying to formulate my own opinion.”
More than 20 Northwestern students gathered in the ballroom Tuesday night to watch a livestream of the first presidential debate of the 2020 election season.
President Donald Trump faced former Vice President Joe Biden on national television to talk about the coronavirus, a nationwide mask mandate, economic recovery, and other hot-button political issues.
Some Northwestern students who watched the debate questioned whether the candidates addressed substantive political topics.
Zach Robinson, a freshman health and sports science major from Odessa, Texas, said the candidates failed to answer important questions. Instead, he said, they just attacked one another.
“This is absolutely embarrassing for both sides,” he said. “This is not politics. … This is just name-calling. It’s 100% embarrassing.”
Robinson said he feels Trump was more articulate than Biden, but he said that neither candidate performed well.
“Neither of them presented what they want to do to make things better,” he said. “They just talked about who’s done what to make things worse. I already know who’s done what bad. I want to know how this is going to get better, not how it’s been bad.
“I don’t think it’s going to change my mind, but I still think it’s pretty embarrassing for both sides.”
Angie Aguilera, a junior vocal performance major from Woodward, said she’s grown tired of the 2020 election’s political divisiveness.
“I feel like either option isn’t a good option,” she said. “Either side that you’re standing on, people are looking for a way to point their finger at the other person rather than acknowledging their differences and trying to come together. I just feel like there’s more divide now the farther that we go into it.”
Aguilera said she feels like she can’t trust some of the nation’s top political figures.
“It makes me feel like, ‘Do they really care about, just like, average people like ourselves?” she said. “There’s so much hate, and I don’t like that there’s so much hate. … There’s a way to talk about things, and there’s a way to not talk about things.”
While students said they would listen to the candidates, some said they have already decided who they’ll be voting for.
Lizzie Shephard, a freshman health and sports science major from Vinita, Oklahoma, said she found the debates interesting.
“Being a first-time voter, it’s nice to know both parties, but I’m definitely for Trump,” she said. “I like his support with the military and police, obviously, because they have impossible jobs.”
Shephard isn’t alone. According to a recent poll conducted by The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC, more than 70% of Americans say they won’t change who they’re voting for after watching presidential debates.
Still, some say the debates are important because they want to learn more about the candidates. Francis said the candidates’ platforms on Native American issues matter to her.
“I’m half Native American, and I want to study Native American law after I graduate from here, and I want to work with, like, Native American relations, tribal relations in the government. And neither one of them have done anything really good for the Native American tribes. I mean, Trump did actually … he signed that bill to help missing and murdered indigenous women, which, I was happy about that.”
While candidates spoke about a number of issues in the debate, Francis said she isn’t sure whether the debate would sway her vote. But she said she would listen to see which candidate told the truth more.
“It’s all just kind of jumbled together,” she said. “I’m trying to figure it out.”