Mariana Martinez | Make politics great again

I tried to sit with the Sept. 10 presidential debate for a while. I tried to accept that it was simply politics: bantering, blaming each other, talking nonsense just to make your opponent look bad. 

Let’s tell it like it is: The presidential debate was a fiasco. I was surprised to see how neither of the candidates directly answered most of the questions and, instead, kept going off on unrelated tangents. Trump talked nonsense about people eating cats and dogs and having “concepts of a plan.” Throughout the debate, he failed to provide concrete evidence and simply said “she knows that” or “everyone knows” as if that were enough to prove his point. Harris, on the other hand, was not much better; she failed to acknowledge the questions, dodging important matters about immigration and the economy while using her story about growing up in a low-income household as a crutch to get through the debate. 

Watching the debate with other University students, I was also surprised to see many of them celebrate this banter, worried about whether the University was named or not, excited to see who spat catchier insults. 

After watching what I considered to be an ineffective debate, as little politics were actually discussed and very few answers were provided, I started wondering: What is the purpose of politics? What is it that has come to be conceived as politics in our generation? Has it simply become an entertainment for us to laugh about?

In his “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle argues that the role of politics is to cultivate virtue in its citizens so that they can perform in accordance with the virtues of the soul, thus becoming happy and fulfilled. Under this perception, the state’s role is to create good conditions for its citizens. Modern politics, especially in this last debate, seem to be little concerned with this. 

Information about matters like the economy and foreign policy was lacking. Both of these matters, I consider extremely crucial given the context of the 2024 elections. A great part of American voters have claimed to be highly concerned about inflation, revealing the failure of “Bidenomics” that caused soaring inflation and interest rates, making it hard for Americans to access essentials like groceries and housing.  

So far, it seems like Harris’ economic agenda builds on efforts made by the Biden administration, which may give Americans trouble separating her own policies from unpopular Bidenomics. Yet, during the debate, Harris did little to outline her own policies and instead stuck to her narrative of “fighting for the middle class.” Northeastern University Political Science professor Nick Beauchamp deemed her plan empty of “anything ambitious” and reflected on the United States system’s failure to be able to pass any policies that would actually do any good. Lately, it seems, everything is framed as a tax cut.

Moreover, I’m still surprised to see how much the candidates have steered away from talking about foreign policy, even though it’s one of the most pressing issues right now. Beauchamp points out how both candidates were unwilling to talk about these issues, perhaps due to their complexity: “There are real disagreements here [referring to foreign policy], but by the time the debate got to them, the audience was unlikely to have been paying much attention.” 

It’s true. Even I, as someone who cares a lot about American foreign policy given my international status, was bored by the time the debate pivoted towards international politics. I was tired of listening to nonsense banter and incredibly creative ways of dodging questions. When the Russia-Ukraine war was mentioned, I looked up to the TV intrigued as to finally see how they would answer this key question, only for Harris to criticize Trump for his (also) very vague answer. They changed subjects pretty quickly, and I was disappointed to see how no one watching the debate with me seemed to care that many questions were left unanswered.

According to Aristotle, if politics is about prioritizing the citizens’ happiness, a political leader should be concerned about the common good rather than individual rivalries. Yet, this presidential race seems to be overshadowed by a personal power struggle, trying to make the other candidate look bad. For instance, Trump has been constantly attacking Harris’ racial identity, questioning whether she is “truly Black.” However, this has little-to-nothing to do with what is at stake during this presidential race. Clearly, there are more important issues to address than the opponent’s race and ethnicity, and if both candidates were good political leaders, they would be concerned with achieving the common good and not with each others’ personal lives. 

While it may be argued that the debate is not wholly representative of U.S. politics, it is still a symptom of the political system’s failure. Despite being in an era of social media, debates are still a prime way to access political information. Proof of this is the vast number of students that gathered on Sept. 10 all over campus to watch the debate. 

Research shows that persuasive messages in debate settings have more significant effects when trying to change attitudes toward lesser-known topics. For example, it was crucial for the voters to consolidate their views about Harris in this debate, given the particulars of her entry into the presidential race. However, when politicians fail to answer questions or approach debates like a rhetorical exercise, they run the risk of spreading misinformation that can eventually lead to a negative outcome for the whole country as voters’ minds are made up.

The American political system won’t change because of this article. But I do believe it is important that we, as young people and students, recognize when political leaders and systems are failing to fulfill their duty. Perhaps, instead of taking it as a form of entertainment, we could start by questioning what the meaning of politics actually is. 

MARIANA MARTINEZ is a College sophomore from Bogotá, Colombia. Her email is marmari@sas.upenn.edu.