The campus political organizations went at it Wednesday night in the third annual Carolina Clash debate. Debaters from the College Republicans, College Democrats and College Libertarians were on hand in the Russell House Theater for the debate as well as moderators from The Daily Gamecock.
Audience participation was a focus in this debate, as students nearly filled the auditorium. Students were able to ask their questions directly to the candidates in person and using the Twitter hashtag #CarolinaClash2015.
Video courtesy of SGTV
Some of the topics debated were U.S. relations with the Middle East, illegal immigration and Veteran Affairs reform, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis and LGBTQ issues, climate and environmental issues, the Iran nuclear deal and the gender-wage gap.
Fourth-year political science student Nick Sottile of the College Democrats said that getting prepared for a debate required some extra footwork, but was worth it to ensure a good performance.
“It was a little bit of extra homework, I guess,” Sottile said. “In our club, we have discussions and debates — that was a big help, but a lot of it was just sitting down and doing some research on both the issues I spoke about, but also all the issues. You don’t know what the Twitter questions or what the audience questions are going to throw at you.”
College Republicans Treasurer and third-year political science student Chandler Lassen spoke about what it was like to debate between his friends and colleagues regardless of political affiliation.
“I really enjoy it,” Lassen said, “It’s a good way to get our groups out to the public. I think everyone enjoys it. We have fun planning it and putting it on.”
Although there was no clear winner in the debate, fourth-year business economics student and College Libertarians President Ross Abbott was proud of the way he and his debating partner, fourth-year information science student and College Libertarians’ Michael Rose, performed, other than one instance where Abbott uttered an expletive during a rebuttal about a question regarding each party’s definition of and plans to defend the "American Dream."
“I think Michael and I did really well,” Abbott said. “I’m a little disappointed in myself. There was a particular section where I might have let my emotions select my word choice for me, and that was not my best option, so I’m not proud of that. But, overall, I think we did a good job. We did pretty much as we were expecting to do. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me, ‘You guys definitely won the debate — I’m a Democrat/I’m a Republican, but I think you won.’ So I’m fairly happy with the result.”
Abbott also mentioned that, more important than winners and losers, the debate did its job at getting students interested in issues in our country and in the political sphere.
“It’s not just a publicity stunt,” Abbott said. “Sure, we were able to almost fill this venue and were able to get people in these seats who wouldn’t come to our organizations individually, but I think even more importantly, it starts a dialogue on campus. It’s a starting point for individual debate.”