I arrived in the Plemmons Student Union a little early only to find the place surprisingly packed. Even though I have small bouts of agoraphobia from time to time it felt nice to know that the entire Parkway Ballroom was filled with my politically minded peers. Well, most of them were there for the debate. There was free pizza about a quarter of the way through and the numbers dwindled a bit after the Domino's departed.
My roommate and I found a nice patch of hard carpet in the back of the P.B. to view the looming digital screens that gave me some strong "Infinite Jest" vibes. Not the best way to do it, but you take what you're given (this phrase kind of became a mantra of sorts for me throughout the debate). As long as I could hear what was happening I was satisfied. Upon sitting down I began to pay attention to the soft murmurs of the people around me as we all waited for the main event to start.
I heard the occasional "make America great again, bro" from groups of people who, without going into too much cosmetic detail, looked about exactly like you would imagine them to. These were few and far between though. The overwhelming consensus I could pick up from my low altitude point of view was that the majority of the people there were Clinton supporters, which probably comes as a shock to no one given that this was an event hosted in the student union of what is primarily a liberal arts university.
As the Fox News debate countdown diminished the crowd began a "10, nine, eight, etc." chant giving me the impression that I was attending the launch of a rocket instead of a night of political discourse. In retrospect I actually wish this event was a celebration of a new rocket being launched. My love for space greatly outweighs any political affiliation I may hold and the loss of NASA's Space Shuttle Program is something I wish was discussed more often in the public realm.
Overall, the debate looked and sounded like my roommate and I thought it would. The outcome of an event like this is decided in the mind of a voter long before it starts regardless of who actually wins by proper argumentation standards. If you are voting for Hillary there's pretty much nothing that is going to sway you at such a late point in the race and vice versa. What I found much more informative in regards to our modern political landscape was the crowd's reaction to the night's proceedings.
Watching Hillary and Trump trade barbed quips for two hours, to the audience's dismay or delight, made me feel like I was in the bleachers at a football game. There was this sense of "my team is better than your team" pervading the whole thing that made it slightly difficult for me to focus on what the candidates were actually trying to say. After the first quarter or so I began to center my attention on the touchdown styled cheers, laughter and applause that would erupt from certain subsets of the crowd when their candidate said something to put down their opponent.
This led me to ponder the role entertainment has played in shaping the outcome of this specific election. I don't think anyone would dispute the claim that Trump got the nomination because he is polarizing and entertaining at the same time. From my vantage point it seemed like everyone in the P.B. would prefer to watch a debate like this that is akin to a Monday night football game because it's more fun/less stressful that way. After all, why would you feel the need to treat this debate with more reverence than an episode of a typical TV show when it's presented exactly the same way?
What are your thoughts on the debate?
