Monday’s presidential debate holds high stakes for both candidates as election day nears.
The first of three presidential debates between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump will take place at 9 p.m. on NBC. The debate, which will run for 90 minutes without commercial interruption, will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Duke students said they are looking forward to watching the candidates meet.
“This will be the first time the two candidates square off face-to-face in the public sphere,” said junior Colin Duffy, president of the Duke College Republicans. “Given the fiery rhetoric surrounding the campaigns, it will be an important time for the candidates to show their understanding of policy, as well as debating abilities.”
At Duke, several student political groups are gathering at Devil’s Krafthouse at 8:30 p.m. for a “Debate Watch Party” sponsored by YOUnite and the Duke International Relations Association. This first event is being funded by the political science department, and Michael Munger, director of undergraduate studies for the department, will introduce the event by presenting a brief overview of presidential debates.
YOUnite is a campus organization and advocacy group that focuses on issues affecting young people, such as sexual assault, college access and political engagement. Junior Matthew King, former YOUnite president and a columnist for The Chronicle, noted the need for young people to participate in the election.
“The number one role of the youth vote is to make sure the interests of young people are represented in government,” King said. “And the more young people who vote, the more accountable politicians will be to our interests.”
The topics of this year’s debates will follow the traditional pattern, with the first focusing on domestic policy, the second functioning as a town hall style, with questions from the audience, and the third on foreign policy. According to the Commission on Presidential Debates, the three topics discussed on Monday will be “America’s Direction,” “Achieving Prosperity” and “Securing America.”
During a candidates’ forum earlier this month, NBC’s Matt Lauer drew criticism after failing to correct Trump’s statements that indicated that he was opposed to the Iraq War. Steve Hassey, a vice president of Duke Democrats, said he hopes that this debate’s moderator, Lester Holt, will do a better job.
“The failure of Matt Lauer to call Donald Trump out for a number of erroneous comments in the presidential town hall was egregious, and I hope that Lester Holt will learn from Lauer’s errors,” Hassey said. “Fact-checking will need to be an important part of any debate with Donald Trump in it.”
Philip Bennett, Eugene C. Patterson professor of the practice of public policy studies and journalism, noted that people disagree about the role of the moderator.
“You have two people with very different styles of speaking on the stage,” Bennett said. “It will definitely be a challenge [for Holt] to maintain a sense of decorum and seriousness of exchange. He will have to move things forward in a deliberate way, yet in a way that doesn’t give in to spectacle. It’s a tightrope walk, as you have to allow candidates to talk without always playing time cop but still keep the discussion on a plane where candidates are held accountable for answers to the questions asked.”
For Duke students, King said the most salient issue will likely be immigration, because many students are either immigrants themselves, international students or the children of immigrants.
At the same time, King noted that there is a sense of disillusionment on campus from both sides of the aisle, including Democrats who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republicans who supported different candidates during the primaries.
“As far as campus as a whole, quite understandably there is some disappointment in our choices for this election,” he said. “I think a lot of people are disappointed with a 68-year-old Democratic candidate and a 70-year-old Republican candidate.”
King said he hopes there will be a mix of students from various political groups at the watch party as well as those who have paid less attention to the election in the past, representing a “cross-section” of Duke.
This presidential debate is expected to see record-high viewership, estimated to be as high as 100 million, according to reporting by the New York Times.
“Because of the nature of the campaign, I expect that there will be debate not just about the debate but a debate about the debate about the debate,” Bennett said. “In other words, much will be said about who won and about the standards we use to judge this. Voters must be able to cut through the thicket of various opinions out there and use this debate as one of the ingredients to judge which candidate will speak for them and be a better leader for our country.”
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