Tuesday night’s presidential debate featured Former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris facing each other for the first time, with both hoping to win the 2024 United States presidential election.
According to a July 2020 Pew Research Center study, 54% of U.S. adults prefer to get their voting information from non-televised political coverage, and yet, presidential debates still get millions of viewers. Tuesday night’s debate gathered at least 57 million viewers. This is larger than the presidential debate in June, which only drew 51 million viewers. San Diego Mesa College Political Science Professor Austin Barraza stated that this larger viewership of the recent presidential debate could be due to the recent change on the Democratic ticket. According to him, “There are still a lot of Americans who have not made up their mind on who they’re going to vote for.”, especially because “a lot of Americans aren’t familiar with Kamala Harris.”. According to Barraza, this has created more enthusiasm, especially on the Democratic side of the aisle.
Due to the importance and large impact of the presidency, viewers watching were unlikely to be completely unaware of the candidates and their general platforms. In 2024 there are more ways to obtain information and news than ever before, through the 24-hour news cycle, the internet, and social media, most already have access to the information debated on Tuesday night. Plus both of these candidates have been in the spotlight for years and so have their stances on key issues, even though Kamala Harris had to hop on the presidential campaign trail late due to President Joe Biden choosing to drop out of the race.
Both Trump and Harris spoke on many issues while Trump focused on a strong national border and inflation. Harris focused on abortion and a strong middle class. Their stances would have been enlightening to hear during the first televised debate in 1960 but both candidates have recently posted their beliefs enough times to make you beg for respite. On top of that, many articles were written before the debate started outlining the candidates’ policies and stances. The 24-hour news cycle, social media, and new ways to market their campaigns have made the presidential debate obsolete and redundant. The most recent presidential debate only succeeded in giving a stage to potentially the two most important people in the free world where they spewed information and bickered for 105 minutes with seldom fact-checks by the moderators.
Generally speaking, people aren’t tuning in to learn about policy or to find their perfect candidate during the debate. Many viewers already have their minds made and turned on the debate to see their choice defeat the other candidate, rooting for them in a way a football fan roots for their favorite team. These debates do not substantially benefit the viewers or the candidates. The future should hold a political process that puts less weight and effort into televised debates. Presidential candidates aren’t forced to compete in these events and their focus will be on other parts of their campaign for the presidency. Professor Barraza shared this feeling, stating ”I can see presidential candidates agreeing to less debates.” in future elections.
Don’t waste your evening being one of the millions viewing this worn-out event built for the past listening to the two candidates yell at each other about issues America is already well aware of. Instead do something beneficial with your time like doing your own research on the presidential candidates, finishing your homework, or going outside to enjoy one of the last days of a San Diego summer.
