Shortly before the September presidential debate, there was speculation over whether there would be a revival of what was once a steadfast US political tradition–the handshake. On CNN, commentators speculated whether former President Donald Trump would approach Vice President Kamala Harris in an attempt to catch her off guard. Then, as the debate began, it was Harris who walked up to Trump and initiated a handshake, and in the process surprised the former President.
During the debate, Harris sought to portray her candidacy as a pathway towards progress, including promises to restore the abortion protections provided by Roe v. Wade and flaunting the Biden administration’s credentials on green energy.
“You will not hear [Trump] talk about your needs, your dreams and your desires,” Harris said to ABC News. “I pledge to you that I will.”`
On the other hand, Trump, now engaged in his third presidential campaign, sought to convince American voters that the nation was in deep decline and urgently needed his leadership, including reciting a false yet grim anecdote about Haitian immigrants in Ohio.
“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said. “This is what’s happening in our country and it’s a shame.”
Here at Staples, one could find no shortage of politically engaged students who watched the debate with deep interest, especially those who were seniors and whose birthdate provided them the opportunity to vote in the upcoming general election.
“I think it was much less one-sided for sure, yet it still had the same feeling of being more of a televised shouting match,” Alex Sod ’25 said. “I think Harris did better[…] she was able to call out Trump for a lot of the things Biden was unable to articulate.”
However, the general consensus according to initial reactions was that the debate seemed to be somewhat of a draw. On the most liquid betting market on who will win the election, Vice President Harris saw her chances increase 2 percentage points against President Trump to an almost dead-even 50/50 split.
Another initial reaction was the acknowledgement that with the exception of the 2024 July presidential debate, which forced Democratic presumptive nominee and President Joe Biden to drop out, the general thinking has been that debates are unlikely to make a truly significant impact on the election.
“From what I’ve read, a lot of the people in swing states who will sway this election are generally tuned out,” Matt Darien ’25 said. “Polling numbers don’t really shift from before [a debate] to after. People are generally watching more to cheer for their side than to decide which candidate they will support.”
