A large applause came from Sunnen Lounge Oct. 11th as Joe Biden responded to Paul Ryan’s comparison of himself to Jack Kennedy.
“Oh, so now you’re Jack Kennedy?” Biden said.
More than 40 students came to Sunnen Lounge to watch the only vice presidential debate of the election. Gwenyth Williams, professor of political sciences, said the room’s political affiliation as a whole was clear by their response to the debate.
“I think that more Webster students that come to this sort of thing seem to be more liberal,” Williams said. “I think they were all kind of laughing and enjoying Joe Biden.”
Williams led a discussion with the students in attendance after the debate and gave her own views. Williams asked the room which candidate they thought won the debate. The majority said Biden did. In her opinion, Williams said both candidates debated well, but Biden’s performance was a strong one after what many viewed to be a weak performance from President Obama in last week’s debate.
“I think Biden did what he set out to do,” Williams said in reference to his offensive approach in the debate. “To let Joe Biden not be Joe Biden would have been a mistake.”
The debate watch party was put on in conjunction with Campus Activities, the Residential Housing Association, Multicultural and International Student Affairs and Holden Public Forum. A similar event will be held for the debate on Oct. 22 and for election night, Nov. 6th.
Williams said student participation in events like these are very important as the traditional student age, 18-25, is the least likely to vote in elections.
“One of the reasons politicians don’t spend a whole lot of time talking to younger people or to their issues is because younger people don’t vote,” Williams said. “I think anything like this that encourages people to get engaged is helpful.”
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