Presidential Debate Highlights

Picture Courtesy of Mlive.com

Picture Courtesy of Mlive.com

Lauren Bentley-Melle, Writer

Ten Presidential Candidates met for their third debate at Texas Southern University on Thursday, September 12th to have a discussion about many pressing issues like healthcare, gun control, human rights, the climate crisis and how to get Trump out of office. The debate started with opening remarks from all candidates.

 

 One of the most shocking opening statements was from Yang, who said he would be giving 10 families $1000 dollars a month to prove how his plan to put in place a Universal Basic Income would be effective. Another strong opening statement was from Buttigieg, who said “Good politics is supposed to be not about the day to day fights of the politicians but about the day to day lives of Americans.”

 

A popular dispute throughout the debate was between Castro and Biden, who both worked on the Obama administration. I’m fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama, and you’re not” said Castro to Biden were debating on healthcare. Biden also denied the claim that Castro made which said that Americans who lost their jobs wouldn’t be covered by Biden’s healthcare plan.

 

Two prevalent topics throughout the debate were Trade and Gun Control. While Klobuchar supported the tariffs on steel, Warren thought that the American trade policy has been broken for decades and that we need our trade policies to work for the people, not corporations. Gun Control was also a considerable topic at the debates, with Harris partially blaming Trump for the El Paso shooting by saying “he didn’t pull the trigger, he’s certainly been tweeting out the ammunition.” Biden also applauded O’ Rourke for going to El Paso after the shooting to spend time and support the families and friends of the victims of the brutal attacks. 

 

One Democrat who stepped up and got a lot of attention is O’Rourke, who gained popularity during the debate as he talked about the El Paso shootings and White Nationalism. He conveyed a strong message to the audience and did it with dignity which made him much more well known around America. Another candidate who gave a solid performance is Andrew Yang. He announced he was going to use his campaign money to prove how his plan for a universal basic income would be effective by giving ten families $1000 a month. After he shared this, his name blew up over social media which made his campaign much stronger. 

 

One candidate who wasn’t as successful was Kamala Harris. Even though she didn’t perform terribly, it was clear to the audience that she was trying too hard to connect with them instead of talking about topics important to them. Although a few suffered with the questions and other candidates on stage, this debate was a success for many candidates who normally aren’t very popular in the polls.

 

The next debate will take place October 15th and possibly the 16th and will be co-hosted by CNN and the New York Times. It will be held at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio.