On the night of September 10th, 2024 there was a presidential debate that will go down in history as one of the most chaotic and possibly one of the most important presidential debates for the future of our country and the rights of women, people of color, LGBTQIA+,and many many other groups. However I’m not going to talk about which side you should or should not vote for due to the fact that this is a school newspaper and most of the people who are reading this most likely cannot vote and won’t be able to until the next election. Instead I’m going to talk about what Boise High students believe were the most influential parts of the debate were 

First let’s talk about what categories were asked about. Keep in mind I am going to paraphrase or rephrase the questions if needed because not all of us have gone to law school to understand these terms. They were asked about 15 categories: taxes, Ukraine, Israel & Gaza, education, trade, food and agriculture, housing, healthcare, artificial intelligence, TikTok bans, antitrust & corporate power, industrial policies, labor policies, and finally, Africa & Latin America. Here’s a little background knowledge of some of these terms, as you might know Ukraine has been at war with Russia since February 24, 2022. Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel in November 2023. AI has been growing in the last few years and some see it as a threat. Whether or not to put more bans on trusts and corporate power. They want to know how they will strengthen ties to Africa and Latin America.

Now, let’s get into what BHS students thought were some of the most important questions that were asked. Sophomore Bethany Sylvester stated, “The most important question that was asked was probably what Vice President Harris was going to do with women’s rights.” On the other hand, Alan Mitchell, a sophomore, said, “What they plan on doing with the wars is probably the most important topic of the debate.” Meanwhile, Brandon Adair responded, “Probably house prices,” when asked the same question. These were the most said responses coming from all different political beliefs from Trump supporters to Harris supporters to neutral on the topic. 

To keep my interviewees feeling as safe and comfortable as possible, I am going to keep these quotes anonymous , but here are some fellow BHS students’ views on the candidates: “I don’t really like either of them,” a very respectable statement that I believe a lot of people agree with. “I’m not a huge fan of Trump, I think he’s a pretty scummy guy. I mean, all politicians are pretty scummy, but Trump’s kind of on the top of that. He also uses way too much spray tan. He kind of looks like an orange popsicle,” another very fair statement with which a lot of people also probably agree with. “Lately Harris is seeming like the more humane candidate. I mean Trump is trying to take away the rights to my own body as a queer woman, and immigrants never ate any pets in Springfield. I don’t know what he’s blabbering about,” yet another valid opinion.

In conclusion, I believe that that presidential debate will go down in history along with this upcoming presidency as very, very influential and important for our future as a country. And some of the most important topics that were covered are Roe v. Wade, housing prices, and what the future of the United States’ involvement in wars is going to look like.