The debate was a joke but the issues aren’t

Aside from Biden and Trump's performance, there were still issues that managed to get through that we need to address. | CNN presidential debate

Heidi Cuevas | Opinion Director 

The long-awaited presidential debate was last Friday and no less than 24 hours after was my feed filled with jokes about the candidates’ performances. 

From the candidates’ old age showing to the facial expressions they made, the debate wasn’t taken seriously and for good reason.

With former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden failing to answer the majority of questions directly but taking the time to argue about who the better golf player is, it makes sense why we can’t help but laugh – but we really shouldn’t. 

It’s embarrassing to see these candidates—who we’re pretty much stuck with— act immature on national television. But it shouldn’t derail voters from focusing on the issues rather than the performance, no matter how bad it was.

The issues that managed to get through are what we need to address.

The dealbreaker of this election is what will abortion and reproductive rights in a post Roe v. Wade country look like. 

On one side, we have Trump taking credit for bringing abortion policy “back to the states” and proudly stating that he belives in exceptions— rape, incest and the life of a mother. 

Despite the exceptions, it’s impossible for women to feel that they have a choice over their bodies when each state has a different restriction on the matter.

Biden kept his pro-reproductive rights position during the debate where he advocated for women freedom to choose under a federal policy, yet was reluctant to use the word “abortion” — strange.

Even though the Biden administration had this issue for the win, his failure to give a coherent answer in the debate makes us doubt if he has an achievable plan.

The never-ending fight to reach a concise ruling on reproductive rights for women is at the hands of either of these two old men— what could go wrong?

And as college students who are struggling in this disaster of a job market watch the debate, there doesn’t seem to be any hope of relief from lowering inflation rates for us to make a living.

The pandemic can be blamed for the increase in inflation rates but only for so much. Both candidates have done little to stop the rapid rising of prices. 

Biden defended himself saying that he tried to “put things back together again” after Trump’s presidency, but we’re still feeling the effects of it in our daily lives from gas prices to eggs.

Whether we like it or not, politics are everywhere and voting for either candidate makes all the difference in how the next four years will look like. 

So look past the performance and focus on the issues we actually care about or we’re going to get a tragic repeat of the last few years.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

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