Why You Need To Watch the Final Presidential Debate
It’s a Wednesday night and you have homework to do, but consider tuning in to the third and final presidential debate.
The 2016 United States presidential election is perhaps one of the greatest reality shows of all time. The first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump boasted a record-breaking total of 84 million viewers according to Politico, compared to a total of only 46 million viewers of the first debate between Obama and Romney in 2012.
Whether viewers hold a genuine interest in the political platforms of the respective nominees or simply watch for the entertainment that a political horserace promises to provide, the 2016 election is one for the history books.
The third debate of the 2016 presidential election will take place tonight at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. It will take place between 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Eastern Time). The debate will be split into six 15-minute segments (following the same format as the first debate) covering topics picked by Chris Wallace, the moderator for the debate. Topics include immigration, entitlements and debt, the Supreme Court, the economy, foreign policy and each candidate’s fitness to serve as president.
Bored by the topics? Don’t be. This debate could potentially be the most exciting one yet, and here’s why.
1. Trump will be asked about his lewd comments about women in the video released by the Washington Post.
2. The second debate proved tension between Trump and Clinton is higher than ever, with Trump denouncing Clinton as the “devil” and Clinton questioning Trump’s fitness to serve as president.
3. We get to hear about Trump’s position on immigration, after his ban on Muslims “morphed into extreme vetting from certain areas of the world,” according to Trump.
4. We get to watch Clinton scramble for an explanation for the new emails leaked from her campaign.
5. Trump and Clinton can finally talk about the economy, and perhaps elaborate on Trump’s acknowledgement of his use of a $1 billion loss in the 1990s to avoid paying personal federal income tax for nearly two decades.
6. We want to be educated and learn about the policies of the candidates we’re voting for. Not the most compelling reason, but it’s a decent one.
The only downside is that, because of the format of the debate, we won’t get to see another Ken Bone. But the invaluable political education is important too.
Jennifer is a senior at Berkeley and has served on Fanfare as a staff writer, a news section editor, the social media editor, and now the co-editor-in-chief....
