Political student groups at USC and campus experts agree the U.S. presidential and vice presidential debates will do little to change the minds of voters as they start to hit the poles in the coming weeks.
Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump took the stage on Sept. 10 in what what would be a key moment to persuade voters. The debate drew in more than 67 million viewers as Harris and Trump discussed their stances on immigration, abortion and the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Almost a month later on Oct. 1, Vice Presidential candidates Tim Waltz and JD Vance faced each other to discuss each candidates policy on immigration, climate and converse about issues since Sept. 10 in a debate hosted by CBS.
Noah Lindler, a fourth-year aerospace student and president of USC College Republicans, said he believed the presidential debate didn’t have that large of an effect on the opinions of the public.
"Both of them said what they’ve been saying the whole time," Lindler said.
He said he believes that while both candidates did stand by their previously identified stances, the debate had a different level of importance for Harris.
Lindler felt that the debate was rally "the first big interview" for Harris since her candidacy started. The debate, in a way, was a trial for how she is able to respond when pressed about topics, he said.
He said he felt like the topics of discussion during the debate strayed from policy and focused more on personal attacks.
“I don’t think there was much really said at all during the debate," Lindler said. "It was more of them just kind of yelling back and forth at each other.”
Eric Center, a fourth-year geography student and president of USC College Democrats, also said he felt like there was little talk of policy within the debate.
But both Lindler and Center said the vice presidential debate, on the other hand, was more civil with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance often agreeing on points.
In a discussion about gun violence, Walz and Vance said that it is a scary thing to have happen. They connected over Walz's son witnessing gun violence with Vance offering his prayers. Lindler said this moment showed understanding and respect between the two candidates.
“They were able to actually agree in a lot of things and the stuff they disagreed with, they were able to still do it civilly, which is what a debate should be,” Lindler said.
Lindler said he believed that it was much more enjoyable to watch because of the civility while Center saw the vice presidential debate as "pretty boring."
Lindler and Center also agree that voters were unlikely swayed as the presidential debate had little content about policy and instead focused on reiterating previous opinions of each other.
Center said he knew his opinion wouldn't be swayed by the debate. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to see how well each candidate would perform. After a debate between Trump and current President and former Democratic candidate Joe Biden on June 27, he said he was worried about if Harris would be able to get her points across effectively.
In the debate between Biden and Trump, many saw Biden's performance as uneven and had many within the Democratic party concerned due to his age, according to the Associated Press.
Center said he felt like Harris was able to step up and deliver a strong debate performance that reinforced her as the best Democratic candidate after Biden dropped out of the race on July 21.
He said he was also curious on how Trump would perform in this debate compared to the one between Biden and Trump. In the debate against Biden, Trump was able to evade answering questions while asking his own and pushing his performance forward, according the Associated Press.
“(I) honestly thought Trump was going to do a little bit better in that debate, and he did a lot worse than I thought he was going to do,” Center said.
Todd Shaw, an associate professor in political science and African-American studies, said he believes that when it comes to looking at the outcome of the presidential debate, there is a general belief that Harris performed better.
Shaw said that he felt Harris had the upper hand in the debate as she was able to bait Trump into talking about certain topics that made him seem unfavorable.
But Shaw said that he doesn't think the debate moved the needle much, making little impact on voters. He believes that voters are most impacted in battle ground states. In states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Minnesota, Harris' polling average has been within the margin of error, showing how close the race is, Shaw said.
“The fairly amazing thing about this particular presidential contest is that it still is very evenly divided,” Shaw said.
Harris is in the lead with 49% polling average nationally compared to Trump with a 48% polling average, according to an Oct. 20 poll by the New York Times.
The vice presidential debate is also unlikely to sway voters opinions, Center said.
“I mean, no one’s really making up their minds on a VP debate,” Center said, “So it seemed, at least, when we tried to discuss it in college dems, most of us were like, it was pretty forgettable.”
When it comes to the outcome of the vice presidential race, Shaw said in his opinion there has been a general belief that there was a tie between Vance and Walz.
“In many respects, I agree with the (belief) that JD Vance, won it relative to style points … He’s more of an effective debater,” Shaw said.
Shaw said he felt like Vance was a more effective debater and had more ease with getting his points across, which helped to push him forward. But in the last five minutes of the debate, Shaw said Walz was able to get the upper hand when Vance was asked about the outcome of the 2020 election.
Walz had asked Vance if he thought that Donald Trump had lost the 2020 election. Vance's response was that he is focused on the future not the past.
“When he couldn’t answer that question, I think you know, that’s essentially what the Harris-Walz campaign wanted to hear,” Shaw said.
Shaw said the debate will probably not have much impact on individuals' votes. But Lindler, Center and Shaw said they feel like that many people's outlook on this election is exciting and optimistic.
“Whoever you vote for, I don’t care, just make sure you go out and vote,” Lindler said.
