It Went Down: Presidential Debate

On 7 November, 2016, the first and only presidential debate for the United States of America
took place. Presidential candidates Karina Lopez and Jenna Davis put in much effort to try and
answer all questions thrown their way. They were so respectful towards each other that they did
not even snap at nor interrupt each other. On the contrary, they began the debate by giving
each other a 20 second hug. This is the atmosphere that should have continued throughout the
debate, but politics are not so sweet. Eventually, Republican interest groups and media began
arguing with Lopez and swinging their arms in the air, while the Democrat side respectfully
allowed Davis to answer fully, because tolerance is key.
The debate began with openings given by both nominees. Daviss was short, nice, and
complimentary. Lopez Explained that her main goals were expanding education and
immigration reform. She ended her opening by saying, Tolerance is my key., a slogan that has
been part of her campaign since the beginning.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxNGUyVzI2d0xEbkE
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxNjBsOFZ4SFN1ZHc
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxUjgtR0R2Z0NWUUU
After the openings were presented, various topics were discussed. Interest groups and the
media were allowed to ask questions, and the discussion would develop from then on. Here are
the topics (with videos) discussed in chronological order:

Education:
Karina answered the question about education stance first. Since her platform is heavily
centered on education reform, she passionately answered, stating that we need to start from
scratch and create classrooms that (kids) learn the best, inferring to some kids learning
differently than others. Davis replied to the question with a simple answer- take government out
of it. because it causes bias. If the US took government out of schooling, then schools would
lose funding. Bias is also not heavily forced on the education system. This just does not sound
thought out.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxdXF3ZDNaUFhjY3c
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxbWZTWlU5YUZqcWM

ISIS:
Davis began the ISIS discussion by clearly stating that the US must not intervene in the Middle
east-as long as it is not directly affecting us. This means allowing human beings to be
slaughtered, as long as they are not American lives being threatened. Lopez took a more

humanitarian stance, suggesting that something must be done because we cannot let people
be murdered, and that we must not be intimidated, but not reckless...use strategies.. These
morals that the Right claims Lopez lacks seem absent in their own candidate. Besides this
difference, both candidates agreed on the rest of the ISIS answering.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxNVl3emdyTHM2Q2M
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxWGtJMHpQeThmRlU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxb3AzM0ZseVNRTWc

Syrian No-Fly Zone

Both candidates agreed that a no-fly zone over Syria would be catastrophic and would increase
tensions between the US and foreign countries. Lopez suggested that a lack of education may
be a factor for the high terrorism rate, and used it as an example of why it is so important.

Race Relations
Both candidates agreed that race relations are present and unacceptable. How they would go
along to solve the problem was a bit different. Lopez mentioned surveillance body cameras,
programs depending on the demographics, and admitting that there is a problem. Davis
mentioned that changing role modeling and fighting stereotypes was the way to teach people to
be more accepting. This idea sound great, but is difficult to implement because many will
conform to the fight against stereotyping. At one point, Cassidy Dolin, a republican
representative, tried to argue with Lopez on the statistics of caucasian cops murdering african
american citizens, saying that white cops killed white citizens more than african american
citizens. She used dailycollar.com, an unreliable source, and was quickly fact-checked by Jorge,
a democrat representative. The actual ratio of African Americans killed were 5:1.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxYkhhR0NYV09oSEk
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxZlBoU1VrYWhIZTA
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxbjdMV1JUMUlUdUk
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxbnFnWU9lYnJDVHc
Fact check: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxS19JOFFWOTZGWUk

Drug reform
Lopez had a lot to say on the topic of drugs. While Davis mentioned that drug addicts should
enroll into rehab rather than jail, Lopez expanded on it. She stated that there should be rehabs
and psych evaluations in jail for the prisoner to receive help. She told a touching story on the life
of her grandfather addict, and even spoke about how ridiculous marijuana criminalization is,
saying someone should not be put in jail for carrying a few grams. Davis responded to the
marijuana issue that marijuana should be up to the states.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxNkhrVGo2bXdyTkU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxOhYoPkxVmxcER4VGJQbjdGV28

Pro-choice
During the pro-choice debate is when things really began to climax. Pro-life Republican
representatives tried to highlight false hypocrisy in Lopezs care for refugees by claiming that
she wants to kill babies, therefore contradicting her care for immigrant children, but they always
fall short of proving their point. Lopez pointed out that women should not be criminalized for
abortions and that it is a choice, but Davis rebutted stating that people just shouldn't have sex
and that the baby could have grown into something great. Abstinence has been proven not to
work (which is why safe sex is taught rather than abstinence). The baby could have also been
born to be something horrible, such as a murderer or rapist. This disproves the claims made by
the Right. They do not understand or rationalize that there is much more science to the process,
and is not just killing babies.

Legacy
At the end of the debate when asked what their legacy would be, each candidate responded
with a tinge of their beliefs. Lopez stated Compromise., meaning that she would work on
repairing the division between republicans and democrats through compromise. Davis
responded with Less murders and abortions...and straight morals...to be Americans again..
Were we only Americans decades ago...when there was prejudice against african americans,
mexicans, gays, ect.?
At the end of the debate, the candidates were quickly questioned on climate change. Lopez
responded with an urge in her voice for saving the planet. She emphasized that she definitely
thought climate change was an issue that must be dealt with, stating, Going green is nothing
but good..
Overall, this election (compared to others) was peaceful. Both candidates expressed their
views, and this election will be a close one. One things for sure: it is important to VOTE.
Note: some files and videos were unfortunately lost in the process of the debate.
By Hector Delgadillo and Adela Romero