State of Democra-Z: Young voters react to the first presidential debate
For our series State of Democra-Z, we’ve been talking to a group of young voters who work in politics. Two of the panelists shared what they took away from the debate.
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President Joe Biden gathered with his family at Camp David over the weekend to regroup after a debate that many viewed as disastrous for his reelection campaign. He showed more energy at a North Carolina rally as his campaign pushed back against calls by some Democrats to drop out.
Support for Biden has faltered among parts of the coalition that elected him in 2020—including young voters. In one survey covered by NPR, only a third of voters ages 18 to 26 supported Biden and another third supported former President Donald Trump. The rest preferred third-party candidates.
For our series State of Democra-Z, we’ve been talking to a group of young voters who work in politics. Cori Stockard is an incoming senior at the University of Minnesota and president of the College Democrats, and Cory Hallada is an incoming senior at St. Olaf who has interned with former president Trump’s campaign.
The two Gen-Z voters joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to share what they took away from the debate.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: President Biden was with his family at Camp David over the weekend to regroup after a debate that many viewed as disastrous for his reelection campaign. He showed more energy at a North Carolina rally as his campaign pushed back against calls by some Democrats to drop out of the race.
Support for Biden has faltered among parts of the coalition that elected him back in 2020, including young voters. In one survey by NPR, only a third of voters ages 18 to 26 say they would vote for Biden this time around. Another third supported former President Trump, and the rest preferred third party candidates.
For the latest in our series, the State of Democra-Z, we wanted to hear from two Gen Z voters who also work in politics and find out what they took away from the debate. Cori Stockard is a senior at the University of Minnesota and president of the College Democrats. And Cory Hallada is a senior at St. Olaf who has interned with the Trump campaign. Both Cory's are on the line. Welcome back.
CORY HALLADA: Hello. I'm happy to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Hi, glad you guys could take some time. Thank you so much. Cori Stockard, I want to start with you. Oh, where do we want to start? There's a lot to cover here, obviously. Let's begin with the president's performance. Did you watch, and what did you think?
CORI STOCKARD: Yes, I watched the debate. I don't think that-- well, Joe Biden addressed his sort of performance later at one of his rallies where he noted the fact that, yes, his debate performance, not the most impressive performance that we've seen from a political debate or whatnot. I think, of course, I would just sort of, I guess, urge people to watch it for themselves and make their conclusion there. But--
CATHY WURZER: What did you think? But what did you think?
CORI STOCKARD: Well, what did I think personally? Personally, I think that it was not terrible. I think, essentially, the actual venue and the microphone muting and the applications of that with regards to the addition of-- you've got a very narrow time window to speak or whatnot.
And it appeared-- this, I think, is relatively hearsay, but it appears that the Biden preparations were to just say a bunch of facts or whatnot. And I think Joe Biden struggled with that for time reason purposes. Like, it was not very feasible to just respond to Trump's parade of all lies and mistruths with just trying to regurgitate facts. I don't think that was very successful.
CATHY WURZER: Cory Hallada, what did you think of former President Trump's performance?
CORY HALLADA: I certainly think it could have been better. It was, I think, what we're kind of used to seeing from Trump. I think if I were to advise him in a second debate, I would hope that he doesn't-- it felt like he had to get in the last word a lot. And I think that was a problem where, oftentimes, it would take him a while to answer questions or he would even not answer the question the host would ask, and he'd have to answer it again.
So, I do think that he did very well at the start kind of responding to Joe Biden's tough start. But yeah, I think I would have preferred that he stayed on topic a little bit more later on in the debate. But overall, I think it was an OK performance from him.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Stockard, it sounds like you are still sticking with the current president.
CORI STOCKARD: Yes, so the thing that was stunning to watch is immediately after the debate, you pretty much had every notable op-ed writer write a headline to the effect of that Joe Biden should drop out. But I tend to believe that the chaos that would be opened up by replacing Joe Biden, especially this close to the election, I just think that's completely untenable for the election. I think that it is paramount if Joe Biden is to win the election or if a Democrat is to win the election, that Joe Biden stay in the election as the candidate.
CATHY WURZER: Say, Cory Hallada, did you hear any information during that debate that you will be able to use when you go to the polls at all? Of course, the economy was the first issue that came up. Any information you can use about how you think these two candidates would each handle the economy?
CORY HALLADA: I don't think I necessarily gained too much information. I think a lot of the debate was a lot of talking points I'm used to hearing. Perhaps other voters would not be the same. I kind of came out feeling the same that I did going in.
But I do think that the economy and the debate, I think Trump did do a good job of pushing that. And I think he did a good job of, at least to me, expressing the idea that the economy under him was doing very well. And under Biden, it seems that inflation has been causing a problem. So I think coming away from that really had me thinking about the state of the economy. And that, I think, is becoming more of a primary issue for me when I hear people talking a lot about the prices and Trump really driving that home.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Stockard, what about you?
CORI STOCKARD: With respect to information to be gained, yeah, similarly, my mind was not particularly changed by the debate. I think that the economy, I think clearly is something that most Americans, it weighs heavily on their minds. And that's sort of-- yeah, I don't really-- my opinion didn't really change or anything. And I don't necessarily think that most Americans who saw the debate are going to walk away with it with some sort of epiphany about the state of the economy or the economic platforms of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Hallada, should both men debate again?
CORY HALLADA: I still think they should. I think especially closer to the election, I think the American people deserve to have them go at it again. And I think it would also-- a lot of Americans are going to want to see if Joe Biden has another performance like that or if he can do better. And I think that it would actually help Joe Biden in another debate if he's able to keep his words together a little bit better.
And I will say that later on in the debate, Joe Biden did perform a lot better. I think the very start of the debate is really what gave people a lot of this panicking reaction. So I would want to see a second debate. And I think most people do.
CATHY WURZER: All right, Cori, Cory's, both of you, thank you so much. Cory Hallada is a senior at St. Olaf, and Cori Stockard is at the University of Minnesota.
Support for Biden has faltered among parts of the coalition that elected him back in 2020, including young voters. In one survey by NPR, only a third of voters ages 18 to 26 say they would vote for Biden this time around. Another third supported former President Trump, and the rest preferred third party candidates.
For the latest in our series, the State of Democra-Z, we wanted to hear from two Gen Z voters who also work in politics and find out what they took away from the debate. Cori Stockard is a senior at the University of Minnesota and president of the College Democrats. And Cory Hallada is a senior at St. Olaf who has interned with the Trump campaign. Both Cory's are on the line. Welcome back.
CORY HALLADA: Hello. I'm happy to be here.
CATHY WURZER: Hi, glad you guys could take some time. Thank you so much. Cori Stockard, I want to start with you. Oh, where do we want to start? There's a lot to cover here, obviously. Let's begin with the president's performance. Did you watch, and what did you think?
CORI STOCKARD: Yes, I watched the debate. I don't think that-- well, Joe Biden addressed his sort of performance later at one of his rallies where he noted the fact that, yes, his debate performance, not the most impressive performance that we've seen from a political debate or whatnot. I think, of course, I would just sort of, I guess, urge people to watch it for themselves and make their conclusion there. But--
CATHY WURZER: What did you think? But what did you think?
CORI STOCKARD: Well, what did I think personally? Personally, I think that it was not terrible. I think, essentially, the actual venue and the microphone muting and the applications of that with regards to the addition of-- you've got a very narrow time window to speak or whatnot.
And it appeared-- this, I think, is relatively hearsay, but it appears that the Biden preparations were to just say a bunch of facts or whatnot. And I think Joe Biden struggled with that for time reason purposes. Like, it was not very feasible to just respond to Trump's parade of all lies and mistruths with just trying to regurgitate facts. I don't think that was very successful.
CATHY WURZER: Cory Hallada, what did you think of former President Trump's performance?
CORY HALLADA: I certainly think it could have been better. It was, I think, what we're kind of used to seeing from Trump. I think if I were to advise him in a second debate, I would hope that he doesn't-- it felt like he had to get in the last word a lot. And I think that was a problem where, oftentimes, it would take him a while to answer questions or he would even not answer the question the host would ask, and he'd have to answer it again.
So, I do think that he did very well at the start kind of responding to Joe Biden's tough start. But yeah, I think I would have preferred that he stayed on topic a little bit more later on in the debate. But overall, I think it was an OK performance from him.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Stockard, it sounds like you are still sticking with the current president.
CORI STOCKARD: Yes, so the thing that was stunning to watch is immediately after the debate, you pretty much had every notable op-ed writer write a headline to the effect of that Joe Biden should drop out. But I tend to believe that the chaos that would be opened up by replacing Joe Biden, especially this close to the election, I just think that's completely untenable for the election. I think that it is paramount if Joe Biden is to win the election or if a Democrat is to win the election, that Joe Biden stay in the election as the candidate.
CATHY WURZER: Say, Cory Hallada, did you hear any information during that debate that you will be able to use when you go to the polls at all? Of course, the economy was the first issue that came up. Any information you can use about how you think these two candidates would each handle the economy?
CORY HALLADA: I don't think I necessarily gained too much information. I think a lot of the debate was a lot of talking points I'm used to hearing. Perhaps other voters would not be the same. I kind of came out feeling the same that I did going in.
But I do think that the economy and the debate, I think Trump did do a good job of pushing that. And I think he did a good job of, at least to me, expressing the idea that the economy under him was doing very well. And under Biden, it seems that inflation has been causing a problem. So I think coming away from that really had me thinking about the state of the economy. And that, I think, is becoming more of a primary issue for me when I hear people talking a lot about the prices and Trump really driving that home.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Stockard, what about you?
CORI STOCKARD: With respect to information to be gained, yeah, similarly, my mind was not particularly changed by the debate. I think that the economy, I think clearly is something that most Americans, it weighs heavily on their minds. And that's sort of-- yeah, I don't really-- my opinion didn't really change or anything. And I don't necessarily think that most Americans who saw the debate are going to walk away with it with some sort of epiphany about the state of the economy or the economic platforms of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
CATHY WURZER: Cori Hallada, should both men debate again?
CORY HALLADA: I still think they should. I think especially closer to the election, I think the American people deserve to have them go at it again. And I think it would also-- a lot of Americans are going to want to see if Joe Biden has another performance like that or if he can do better. And I think that it would actually help Joe Biden in another debate if he's able to keep his words together a little bit better.
And I will say that later on in the debate, Joe Biden did perform a lot better. I think the very start of the debate is really what gave people a lot of this panicking reaction. So I would want to see a second debate. And I think most people do.
CATHY WURZER: All right, Cori, Cory's, both of you, thank you so much. Cory Hallada is a senior at St. Olaf, and Cori Stockard is at the University of Minnesota.
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