On Monday, October 17, CNN Commentators Mr. Van Jones and Ms. Kayleigh McEnany traveled to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, a little place deemed "basically in the middle of nowhere," to debate in front of an arena full of students. Though Southeast Missouri State isn't often the spotlight of Missouri - often giving it up to WashU or Mizzou and quietly going about their business - they were happy to host such intelligent and successful individuals for a political debate.
I was honored to be a guest, along with several other students, at dinner with the pair, and it was nothing less than phenomenal. Both parties were very responsive and answered questions thoroughly when asked, even if they were in the middle of a bite of fancy salad. They were human, they were funny, and they cared about being there with us and taking our questions and answering honestly. They were both respectful and respectable.
After dinner, Mr. Jones and Ms. McEnany headed over to the Show-Me Center and presented a debate in front of a large turnout of students and Cape Girardeau community members. Moderated by Dr. Rick Althaus, the debate was far from what we've seen this presidential election cycle. As opposed to calling each other names and avoiding the questions, both parties were very respectful of each other and defended their platforms with the utmost class. Not once did I ever even hear a glimmer of something that could be compared to a Trump/Clinton debate. This debate was informative, civil, and engaging. Both Mr. Jones and Ms. McEnany both had very valid points about several issues concerning the presidential elections, such as WikiLeaks, Foreign Affairs, and Education.
Overall, the experience of having Van Jones and Kayleigh McEnany on our campus was delightful. Many students were disappointed that these two people weren't our presidential nominees, because they are so much more respectable and better spoken than both of the current choices. In the chatter of the crowd, I heard numerous times, "write in Van Jones!" or, "Kayleigh McEnany should be up there instead of Donald Trump." The Southeast student body felt lucky to have hosted this debate, and were utterly floored by the intelligence and attitudes of the candidates, and how starkly contrasting this debate was to the one held just a couple of weeks ago at Washington University.
Thank you, Van Jones and Kayleigh McEnany, for giving us hope for politics.
