Image Credit: Emerson College. Top: A poll showing the favorability of each candidate and their likeliness of winning.
Politics has always sparked lengthy discussions, debates, and even long-standing disputes. But how can anyone decide where they stand without knowing what’s happening? That’s why, for the 2024-2025 school year, I’ll be serving as your political columnist for the Hatchet. I’ll keep you informed on both local and national political events, so you’re always up to date with what’s going on in the world.
To start off the year, we’ll look at the state of the 2024 Presidential race. The race fundamentally shifted after the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Given the significance of the youth perspective, it’s essential to hear about the students’ opinions. “The last debate between Trump and Biden showed me how incompetent the candidates are,” says Abeera Shamin, a junior at WHS. Aysha Farooq, a junior as well at WHS, had similar views to Shamin. “I noticed that Biden and Trump were mainly arguing and they didn’t really bring up some important issues that are affecting many people in today’s society,” she said. Overall, students felt the first debate revealed a lack of professionalism and leadership.
But the election changed when Biden dropped out of the race on July 21, 2024, and the Democratic Party replaced him with Kamala Harris, the sitting Vice President. So far, the first debate between Harris and Trump, on September 10, has sparked intense reactions across the country, particularly among students, who have been vocal about their thoughts of the debate. I decided to go back to the students who I previously interviewed and get their new opinions. “It was less demoralizing than the first one, but they were still making comments towards the other person’s character rather than talking about their plans,” says Shamin. Similarly, Farooq said, “The Harris and Trump debate was definitely better than the Biden and Trump debate, but there were still major flaws because they didn’t talk about some important subjects in their debate.” Many students voiced the complaint that overall there was more arguing and fighting than actual debating.
Much like the first debate, many students felt that key issues were once again overlooked and left unaddressed. “They could have done a better job at discussing other stuff, especially education, I feel like they didn’t even bring it up at all,” Farooq says. This exclusion is critical since students, as future voters, need to hear where candidates stand on matters that will shape their future. Without a clear focus on these issues, how can young voters feel confident in their choices?
As election day approaches, it’s crucial to keep listening to the voices of students–the very individuals whose future will be the most impacted by the decisions made at the polls.
Hailia Morshidi is a junior at Washington High School. She was born and raised in Fremont, California. This is her first year being apart of The Hatchet and she is very interested in writing on many important topics. These include global issues, local news, and student life here at Washington. She enjoys reading, writing, hanging out with friends, and listening to multiple different genres of music. In the future, she would like to study economics with a focus on pre-law in the hopes of becoming a lawyer.