Choose your fate; debate

People hear sound bites or see quotes online showing what presidential candidates have said during a political event. For example, in February, 2016, Donald Trump said to Time magazine, “I’m going to look into colleges. We’re going to do something in regards to really smart financing.” Does that make any sense, or provide any information?

With the election just 34 days away and two more presidential debates to come, we should organize “viewing parties” at Pierce College, followed by a panel discussion that can help students and even faculty understand what is being said.

The first presidential debate had more than 84 million television viewers that stayed tuned in from start to finish, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Although alternative viewing options were not included in the 84 million viewer tally due to the difficulty of gathering the number of people who watched via cell phone, tablet or computer, the previous record of nearly 80 million viewers was exceeded. The debate that pulled in those numbers was in 1980 for the Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter clash.

How many people actually understand and can make a conscious decision based upon what the candidates are saying during the debates? Viewing parties and panel discussions offer people an additional source of information and discussion topics as well as clarify ideas that are not clear. It is important to have all the facts.

Here’s an example of a candidate that was unable to recall information while being interviewed.

Chris Matthews hosted a Town Hall featuring Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld on September 28. During this time, Matthews asked Johnson to name a foreign leader that he had respect for.

Johnson’s first response, “I’m having another ‘Aleppo moment.’”

After being flustered for about one to two minutes, he finally said the name of a former Mexican president, due to help from his running mate.

In early September, Johnson made an appearance on the show “Morning Joe,” and one of the panelist asked him “What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?” Johnson’s response was “What is Aleppo?” The panelist responded that is was the epicenter for the Syrian refugee crisis, where he was

Stephanie Cardenas