Campus Debate Urges Students to Vote as Democrats and Republicans Come to a Head

Dylan Tulk

He/Him

Staff Writer

9/20/24, Updated 9/24/24

At 2 pm Tuesday afternoon, students gathered at the HUB Hage Room for the first in a series of debates ahead of the November 6th presidential election. The room was crowded and enthusiastic. Abortion, immigration, and foreign affairs were among the hot topics argued as the student debate teams thrashed out election promises from the Republican and Democratic platforms. They both asked: who will YOU vote for? 

Speakers for the PSU Republican club were Ethan Dupuis and Michael Toronto, president and vice president respectively. Speakers for the PSU Democrat club were James Kelly and Avery Opland. Kay Bailey, Editor-in-Chief of The Clock, and Francis Vallesio, president of the History club, served as the debate’s moderators.

Dr. Jason Charrette and Professor Kelsie Eckert kicked off the Constitution Day Event: 2024 Election and the Right to Vote. Eckert urged students to vote in this election, as Dr Charette reminded everyone that “our right to vote is precious.” 

The Republicans opened with Dupuis’s claim that Democrats are “out of touch, out of focus, out of ideas.” He pointed to the housing crisis and high inflation over the Biden/Harris administration, and blamed Kamala Harris for current rates of unemployment. Dupuis argued Harris is using women’s reproductive rights as a mere “distraction” from the economic problems America faces, stating that Harris had made “grocery prices go up by 25% .” Dupuis echoed Trump’s promise to allow every student to pay off their loans–but did not specify how.

As speaker for the Democrats, Kelly informed students that the choice is “easy,” as Kamala Harris values what students value: personal freedoms, rights over our bodies and to love who we love–as well as the right to smoke a joint without being arrested. He reminded listeners that Trump is a convicted sexual predator, documented serial liar, and a 34-count felon. If we ban sexual offenders from schools, he asked, then “why let a sex offender into the White House?” 

On the topic of immigration, The PSU Democrat team pointed out that Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric on immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country” doesn’t match reality. According to statistics, Kelly clarified, so-called “migrant crimes” have been lower than ever, and immigration is actually an economic driver for a prosperous America. Opland pointed out that Dupuis and Toronto’s repeated description of immigrants as  “illegal” was “deeply irresponsible.” She reminded everyone that “no human is illegal,” especially when making the only choice possible to escape extreme, traumatic violence in their home countries

Dupuis argued that “illegal” immigration had dire effects on cities such as New York, given the current housing crisis, and declared that in Springfield OH, the population increased by 25% “overnight.” The Democrats challenged this statement by quoting the Republicans’ recent admission regarding Springfield: “sometimes we need to make stories.” Kelly explained to the audience that in reality Ohio’s immigrant Haitian community has revived the failing Springfield economy, and they are definitely not eating people’s pets.

On the topic of women’s reproductive health rights, Dupuis answered first. Anyone can succeed in the Republican party no matter who they are nor their identity, priding themselves on being “the party of meritocracy.”  When questioned on the fact that the majority of those in Congress and the Senate are men, Dupis clarified that for the Democrats to codify Roe v. Wade into law, they would need substantial legislative support from those men.

“If the majority of people in Congress are white men, aren’t they saying that the decision to codify roe. V. wade is going to be in the hands of white men?” Ethan goes on to support the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade as a way of putting reproductive health decision making back into the states hands..

“That’s what we saw in Ohio, they voted a little more on the liberal side, which is okay…we have other states that are a little more conservative, and that’s perfectly fine either way.”

In response, Opland noted that there was no woman speaker on the PSU Republican team, which was significant when discussing critical issues around reproductive care. She mentioned that “meritocracy” is not an accurate description in a context where only white men can “succeed.” Current laws, she stated, do not reflect medical reality, and many doctors are scared to give women essential care because of laws persecuting them for simply doing their job. If any president allows lives to be lost due to insufficient care, then “you’re losing a woman’s place in society.” 

It’s no surprise that the Republican and Democrat teams were energetic and determined in their arguments–but the reason they were up there in the first place was for you, the students. This election will determine what kind of society–what kind of America–we will live in as we graduate college and step into the wider world. As Dr. Eckert said in her opening address: “People fought and died for the right to vote. Anyone here in the room can find their identity in the people that fought.” You get to decide your future–with one vote that nobody can take away. Eckert’s challenge is one we all need to respond to in this historic election: “Vote now, not later.”

For more information on voting, absentee ballots, registering and getting to the polls visit Know Your Vote; Youth Voter Guide.

Another debate will take place between the PSU Democrats and PSU Republicans in October. More information to come.