Over 67 million viewers across the country tuned in to watch former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris face off during their first presidential debate on Sept. 10. Tufts was no exception, with multiple student organizations hosting debate watch parties that saw high levels of student turnout.
According to the Tufts Democrats, the attendance for their watch party was the highest for any event in the club’s history, with over 400 students in attendance.
“People were very excited and [expressive], which made me feel great about putting on the event, because people were super engaged, and that was the goal,” Zach Zinman, president of the Tufts Democrats, said. “The goal from the beginning of this year has been, quite simply, [to] get students involved in politics.”
Zinman, a sophomore, emphasized how student engagement during the watch party cultivated a sense of community amongst attendees.
“It’s important to take advantage of this time. Being in that room and hearing the laughter and hearing the gasps, … people really cared about the debate. I found that really inspiring, and I know it definitely made us as the [executive] board feel great about putting on the event,” Zinman said.
Zinman praised Harris for her ability to perform under pressure and communicate her position on issues like abortion access.
“I think Harris, hands down, won the debate, and she's done better than anybody has in a debate against Trump,” Zinman said. “She stood up to the lies that he tells, and she made her points very succinctly, and I think she made them powerfully.”
Tufts JumboVote co-chair Seona Maskara, a junior, shared her experience hosting a debate watch party.
“I would say the energy was great. … You could tell that people were really excited to watch it,” Maskara said. “Every time the debate would cut out for 20 seconds, you could hear [someone saying] ‘Oh no, what was she gonna say?’”
Maskara expressed how events such as debate watch parties can help facilitate discussions between people from different political backgrounds.
“Politics has become so polarized right now that it’s important to just be able to connect with other people,” Maskara said. “Even if you’re watching the debate with someone that you disagree with politically, they might be able to bring up a good point, something that you never would have thought of. … These debate watch parties are forums for intellectual discussion.”
The Tufts Republicans did not host a watch party, as the debate occurred during their 9/11 memorial flag planting ceremony. However, senior Ethan Putlack, president of Tufts Republicans, said he watched some of the coverage afterwards.
“From what I saw, I think that Kamala over performed and Trump underperformed, though I think the moderators skewed this debate towards Kamala enough to impact the results in her favor,” Putlack wrote in an electronic message to the Daily. “Both candidates know what they have to do and say in order to win, so this is going to be a very close race,” he wrote. “But Trump is currently too easily distracted and needs to be more focused on policy, as I think that he wins as long as policy is at the forefront of the political discussion.”
Tufts Professor of Political Science Brian Schaffner shared his main takeaways from the debate.
“I think the most striking thing to come out of this debate was to observe Harris’ strategy to essentially distance herself from the incumbent administration and instead run against Trump’s presidency as if she were the challenger,” Schaffner wrote in a statement to the Daily. “You could see this from the language she used about wanting to move forward and not going back as well as through her various attacks on Trump had done while he was president.”
Schaffner also explained how presidential debates have historically played a “modest role in shaping opinions,” as voters typically have their minds made up about who they’re going to support prior to watching the debate. However, according to Schaffner, the Sept. 10 debate presented a more unique circumstance, given that Harris joined the race less than two months prior, following President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw.
“In this way, the debate between Harris and Trump was unique, because Harris had only recently become the Democratic Party’s nominee and so it was a genuine opportunity for Americans to get to know her a bit better,” Schaffner wrote.
The Tufts Democrats plan to host another watch party for the upcoming vice presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz on Oct. 1. The Tufts Republicans and Tufts Democrats are also working with the non-partisan political discussion group Cooperation and Innovation in Citizenship (CIVIC) to coordinate a debate between the two groups ahead of Election Day.
