Tyra Carter

Staff Writer

Many Jamesville-DeWitt High School students tuned into the presidential debates on Sept. 26, Oct. 9, and Oct. 19. Whether they had to do it as homework for their classes, or just did it because they want to understand this Presidential race better, each student came away from the debates with mixed emotions, and a wide variety of reviews.

“The first one was really interesting,” said junior Milena Romano. “I think Hillary won that one, she had a lot of strong points and Trump made a fool of himself,” said Romano

Juniors Kasey Vaughn and Lindsay Hair found the debates comical. “They went at each other instead of giving factual answers,” said Vaughan. Hair thought the debates were pointless. “They never really answered the questions,  just insulted each other the entire time,” she said.  Senior Nathan Fathers agreed.

There were several highlights and points that stuck out to the students. “Trump brought up Hillary’s emails which was a good argument, however Hillary brought up Trump’s alleged sexual assault,” said junior Lexie Gambacorto

Gambacorto was referring to the major arguments against each candidate. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated (and has since reopened the investigation into) the use of a private email server by Hillary Clinton during her time in office. For Donald Trump, criticism has come from the release of a tape in which he made a long string of lewd comments that many deemed demeaning toward women.

Freshman Caleb Porter felt that Clinton gave better answers during the debates. “Hillary had more concise answers about policies, Donald Trump’s (answers) were more out there and didn’t make much sense,” said Porter. Sophomore Mark David agrees, adding “Clinton’s answers were more clear.”

For junior Maya Frieden, Hillary Clinton’s patience during the debate was remarkable. “I think (the fact that she remained calm despite Trump’s interruptions) says a lot about her capabilities of being the president,” says Frieden.  “I’m not a huge supporter of either, but I’d feel a lot safer having Hillary Clinton as my president,” said Frieden.

“I don’t support either candidate because I think both have questionable values and morals, however I would feel more safe if we had Hillary as our president,” said junior Mary Austin. Senior Ben Picone has similar views; “there’s good reasons to not support either side,” said Picone

“Trump was very rude (during the debate), interrupting Hillary nonstop. I thought it was inappropriate and not presidential-like,” said Gambacorto. She adds, “I don’t think Trump fits the criteria, he’s good at what he does in NYC but I don’t think he should be running our country,” said Gambacorto. However Vaughn thought differently, and believes Trump is a “man to his word.”

Each Presidential race is crucial to our nation and its Democracy. However, many people believe that this election is even more crucial. With all three debates done, it is now up to the American people to decide the fate of their country.