Campus political organizations hold presidential debate watch parties for students

The first debate between presidential nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris took place on Sept. 10. College Democrats at Pitt, College Republicans at Pitt and Pitt Votes, a nonpartisan University organization, each held watch parties for students to watch the debate live. 

The Harris-Walz campaign hosted watch parties across several college Democrat groups in Pennsylvania, with around 930 total students overall, according to Will Allison, former president of College Democrats at Pitt. College Democrats at Pitt hosted its event in Alumni Hall with about 170 attendees, making it the largest Pitt party of the evening. The event also featured bingo cards, Harris-Walz merchandise and snacks.

“This is a huge crowd, and I think significantly more than [College Democrats at Pitt] were expecting,” Allison said. 

The Pitt Votes watch party doubled as a pajama party, including bingo cards, snacks and discourse with peers. Prior to the ABC special at 9 p.m., students prepared for an “entertaining” night of presidential debate, according to Luke Schellhammer, first-year psychology student at the Pitt Votes event.

“I’m pretty left-leaning, and I’m definitely going to vote for Kamala. Donald Trump is a no-go for me,” Schellhammer said. “But I’m still here to watch the debate because politics are very interesting to me, and I think it’ll be very entertaining.”

Sam Podnar, a junior politics and philosophy major and co-president of College Democrats at Pitt, hoped the moderators would touch on certain topics.

“I’d like to see them talk about reproductive rights, immigration and hit Trump on his criminal record,” Podnar said. “I really want to see them ask the tough questions about protecting democracy and make sure that both the candidates are clear on their stances about that.”

Going into the debate, Josh Minsky, a senior neuroscience student and president of College Republicans at Pitt, hoped that Trump would “articulate his viewpoints without delving into personal insults.” 

“I think there’s a 50-50 chance that he doesn’t follow that advice and decides to veer off the rails,” Minsky said, “which I think would be a big mistake on his end. But if he actually decides to highlight his record, the booming economy, great foreign policy, closed borders, everything like that, things that are popular with the American people, I think that will guarantee him a victory in the debate.”

This was the first presidential debate since the Democratic ticket changed from President Joe Biden to Harris. Mary Boyd, a junior political science major and communications director of College Democrats at Pitt, said that by the middle of the debate, she noticed contrasts between Biden and Harris’ debates.

“Biden got stomped on a little bit, but I think Kamala has been staying on top this entire time,” Boyd said.

Schellhammer gave his thoughts on how he thought the two candidates looked opposed to one another. 

“I think Kamala, she looked presidential, she looked calm and collected, she looked like she had leadership capabilities,” Schellhammer said. “Trump looked like a grumpy old man at times, and it was kind of an interesting contrast.”

During the break, Kenny Cho, first-year urban planning student, expressed distaste in the first segment of the debate. He does not plan on casting his vote for one of the two traditional parties, and his stance has not changed since watching the presidential nominees.

“I don’t like Trump, but I feel like Kamala Harris has also been really disappointing. I’m definitely not gonna vote for either of them,” Cho said. “I know the Green Party isn’t going to win, but I guess I just hate the two parties so much that I’m just going to vote with my heart for the Green Party.”

Once the debate ended, Minsky spoke on the “general club consensus” of College Republicans at Pitt.

“We’re pretty disappointed in Trump for not following through on all of his policies,” Minsky said. “Overall, the debate was kind of a mess. No one really answered anything. There was a lot of fighting, and it seemed like a lot of content-less time being taken up.”

Despite feeling let down after the debate, Minsky is standing strong in his endorsement for Trump’s second presidency.

“I don’t think that [it’s] going to affect the polling data that much, because I think everyone kind of has their opinion made up and everyone watches this stuff for fun,” Minsky said. 

Boyd said she hopes Harris’ performance sways undecided or moderate voters.

“Kamala, the whole night, has made it really clear that America should be done with the chaos and the confusion and the division that Trump has caused the past almost decade,” Boyd said.
“I’m really hoping that resonates with moderate voters and [they realize] he’s just speaking complete nonsense.”

Hannah Miskovich, a first-year nursing major who will vote for the first time this November said at the College Democrats at Pitt event that her vote was set in stone before and after the debate. 

“Since it’s my first time voting ever, you come in with so many emotions, people telling you from both sides what to believe,” Miskovich said. “I think, if anything, [the debate] solidified my vote more.”

Although the debate covered various issues, Claire Frick, a first-year political science major, said she wished the moderators directly touched on LGBTQ+ issues.

“I think [LGBTQ+ issues are] a really important issue to me personally, as an LGBTQ person,” Frick said. “It’s a really important issue to a lot of people in my life — married gay people, trans people who are worried about our futures, especially the possibility of ‘Can I still marry who I want to marry if Trump is elected?’”

Overall, many students walked in with an idea of who they’d vote for and walked out with the same conviction, including Ben D’Ambrosia, sophomore mechanical engineering student at the Pitt Votes event.

“I was 100% going to vote for Kamala Harris, and I don’t think there was much that could be done to change that,” D’Ambrosia said.