Chaffey's Watch Party of the Second 2024 Presidential Debate

By Rene Madrigal

Hands clasped in prayer, the scent of butter in the air, a cacophony of diverse voices chatting and arguing; these were the sights and sounds at Chaffey's Presidential Debate Watch Party.

As I entered the room, the smell of ash from the nearby line fire was replaced by the scent of buttered popcorn, setting a fitting mood for an evening that would entwine chaos and entertainment.

With a speaker already positioned in front of the sea of students, I quickly took my place and listened intently as Roland Fontaine, a member of Chaffey's speech and debate club, spoke to the crowd.

Three points were made in Fontaine's speech; the importance of education, the issue of social security and the significance of the presidential debate.

As Fontaine and the other speech and debate club members sat down, I took notice of a man whose hands were bound as he whispered his wills and wishes to his god. A visceral reminder of the stakes on the table.

Just then the apparent true organizer, a faculty member named Sonya, who seemed far too busy to interview, laid down a couple of ground rules, emphasizing civility, allowing clapping but discouraging cheering or booing. She is interrupted as ABC's theme plays and welcomes in the two nominees. 

The debate became contentious fairly quickly, with the crowd cheering as Kamala poked at Trump. 

As the first commercial break sprang upon us, the speech and debate club came back onstage to make a couple fact checks and make a point regarding Kamala's use of sources. Claiming that the sources she use were left-wing biased, while acknowledging that Trump had no sources to cite.

As the debate began to wind back up Alishia Rosas, Associate Superintendent of Student Affairs and Strategic Communications, thanked me for covering the event and for writing for The Breeze, seemingly harkening back to a state of elevated prominence. 

In its latter half, the cheering that Harris had enjoyed in the beginning began to die down, with one particular attendant even shouting, "Move on!" in frustration as Kamala avoided the question to respond to Trump's claim that she would take away guns en masse.

The debate eventually came to a close, with Trump being given the closing remarks. Sonya came back out to thank all for attending and I immediately jumped to get in a couple interviews.

A member of the speech and debate club who wished to remain anonymous opined that while the debate was fun, the best part of the event for them was the conversations that were given a space to unfold.

They believed Kamala had brought the better argumentative talking points to the table while suggesting Trump appealed to authority instead of providing backing to his points. The speech and debate member did criticize Harris' lack of elaboration on Foreign Policy, stating that they "would've liked to hear more".

Another Chaffey Student, a film major named Miguel Cervantes, spoke about how fun the debate was.

Typically, a heavy, political topic like this would not be considered in the same universe as fun, but the sheer excitement from Chaffey's staff and students was infectious.

Cervantes too believed Harris came out on top, citing Trump's inability to contain himself and repeatedly taking the bait Harris put out for him.

When asked what specifically he liked about Harris besides her composure in comparison to Trump, Cervantes responded that Harris' affirmations about supporting the second amendment cleared up a concern he had about her policy.

The organization of the event is worthy of immense praise, with the speech and debate club taking moments to ask questions and even allow students or staff to come up and make points or bring up how they felt the candidates were doing.

The whole event felt as though I really was interacting with members of my community who were all given equal opportunity to voice their political grievances, not just someone slapping the Presidential Debate on in the background.

I have been personally guilty of finishing my class and heading straight home, but this watch party made the Chaffey community seem much more tangible.

Overall the watch party proved an excellent space to interact with the politics of Chaffey College (and get free pizza, popcorn and a drink if that motivates you more). It was great to be able to listen to and interview peers and staff at the school.

While we now know that no second debate will take place, the experience of a communal viewing of politics among peers is a great way to make a formal affair more bearable if you are not invested in politics enough to watch it alone in your bedroom.