1 down, 2 to go: Local reactions to the first presidential debate

“As a matter of demeanor and political belief, [Hillary Clinton] is an entirely conventional, centrist politician. Trump is something different, Trump is something unique. And this is the great danger for Hillary, is that she is the representative of a political system that people want to change…that there are a substantial number of people who think they are getting nothing out of and have no stake in.”

-Stephen Dyson, professor of political science

“I am voting, but I’m not voting for either of them. Even though one of them is going to be our president, for sure, whether or not Trump or Hillary becomes president, that’s irrelevant. Because I can guarantee you two things: the Republicans hate Hillary and the Democrats hate Trump, so once they get into office, nothing is getting done.”

-Russel Thomlinson, fifth-semester engineering physics major

“I didn’t watch. It’s just such a crazy election this year that I try to avoid it as best I can. Both sides are crazy, I think. Anything from the Trump side just sounds like an Onion article and anything from the Clinton side, I just kinda go ‘…really?’”

-Andre Miller, fifth-semester anthropology major

“The door for Donald Trump, that was never open for me remotely, so I knew, there was no potential to sway me in that direction, but I was just hoping to see a good debate, to see how they would handle talking together for the first time.”

-Kristi Kaeppel, NEAG graduate student

“It was a lot of throwing little jabs, which I know happens a lot in debates, but I feel like the issues weren’t addressed in the way they should have been, so I lost interest. One that I found offensive was when Trump was saying Hillary didn’t have the ‘presidential look.’ Once I heard that, I was just like, ‘I’m done.’”

-Gelmira Theodore, seventh-semester nursing major

Volg: “I get that either Hillary is looked at as this psychopathic liar and she’s crazy, or that Trump’s the one with all the ideas that aren’t going to work and he’s racist… These are the opinions that you get off of social media, not necessarily how I see it, but when you’re looking at social media, that’s what you see; it’s black and white.”

Love: “It’s literally like he’s a racist and she’s a liar, so who do you trust?”

-Kendra Love, left, third-semester speech and pathology major and Lisa Volg, right, fifth semester ACES major

“It just made me more unsure, really… If I’m being honest, I think I might’ve been a little bit more pro-Trump, but watching this debate, I’m a little bit in the middle now. But I don’t think I’m going to vote, just because if I’m really unsure, as much as I am right now, and I know every vote really matters, I don’t want to contribute to that, especially when I’m not very prepared.”

-Thad Dang, seventh-semester psychology major