Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands before the Sept. 10 presidential debate. (Photo by the Associated Press/Carolina News & Reporter)
Last week’s presidential debate generated an influx of memes and social media trends, but will the event affect Americans’ votes?
Kirk Randazzo, a political science professor at the University of South Carolina, said many voters already favored a candidate going into the debate.
“I think there’s a decent number that have already made up their mind,” Randazzo said. “But that said, you look at the last couple of elections, you know there have been states that have been decided by less than 10,000 votes.”
Few people openly shared their thoughts about the debate with a reporter the next day. Many said they didn’t watch it.
USC freshman Anna Schauer fell into the category of voters who had made up their minds before the debate. Schauer knew she would be voting for Harris, and said the debate only reinforced her stance.
“I thought it went really well,” Schauer said. “I love how right out of the gate Kamala went over to Trump and immediately like shook his hand as he was trying to get to his podium. I thought that was a great power move for her.”
Despite Schauer’s support for Harris, she still thinks the vice president could have had a stronger performance.
“I think she needed to hit more on her policy, a bit more,” Schauer said, “But I think she still got her message across.”
While some voters such as Schauer have already decided who they are voting for, Randazzo said presidential debates do have an impact, as shown from the backlash following President Biden’s debate performance in June.
“This year, I think … the debate we saw in June between Trump and Biden absolutely had an effect,” Randazzo said, “I mean, that was the reason Biden eventually dropped out of the race and Harris got the nomination.”
USC freshman Sasha Singleton said the debate influenced her vote and reminded her of why she’ll be voting for Harris.
“She definitely proved why she is a strong candidate and why she is in the position that she’s in,” Singleton said. “So, it definitely and positively impacted my decision.”
Trump’s performance also affected her opinion. She said he seemed to be focused on personal attacks rather than on policy.
“If I had to explain what I felt like the debate was, it kind of felt like I was arguing with a childish ex,” Singleton said.
While the impact of the debate might be difficult to determine, Randazzo said it could bring more people out on Election Day.
“I think the debate … has moved things, maybe not in terms of the polls, but we’re seeing things like additional people registering to vote,” Randazzo said.
