As the nation faces a fiercely polarized and contested election, President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden vie for the nation’s top office. The novel Coronavirus taking center stage on the national political scene as President Trump contracted the disease and two hundred and twenty thousand Americans have succumbed to the disease thus far. The first Presidential debate, of the planned three, was a boisterous affair, full of interruptions, unsubstantiated allegations, and doubling down on the party line. 

The Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris was an ordered affair. Interruptions were seen and candidates went over their allotted time but not to the extent of the first Presidential debate. The second Presidential debate was cancelled after President Trump pulled out after the Commission on Presidential Debates opted to move the venue to Zoom citing safety concerns over Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. 

On Friday Oct.16, the Commission on Presidential Debates released six topics that would be covered at the debate: “Fighting COVID-19,” “American Families,” “Race in America,” “Climate Change,” “National Security” and “Leadership.”  The final Presidential debate aired this Thursday, Oct. 22nd at 8:00 PM CST, live from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. This final debate mirrored the format of the first, but only five topics were touched on instead of the planned six..

Below are some key takeaways from the debate:

KEY POINTS N’ QUOTES

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With 8 days to Election Day, at the time of writing, campaigns are coming to their respective home stretches. Early voting is underway, mail in voting is occurring, and at the time of writing this article, over 50 million Americans have already cast their ballots. 

The second and final Presidential Debate came as a surprise to many as it was of night and day difference from the first President Debate. It seems the looming threat of having their microphone muted kept both candidates in line and they largely respected each other’s speaking time and gave ordered rebuttals when they felt necessary. As is typical, each section was prolonged and the more sensitive topics for each candidate saw much more time than was designed by the debate commission. The final two sections largely got snubbed as the second to last section saw about 10 minutes of discussion and the final section was limited to one question only, which largely took the form of a closing statement for both candidates.

Many Americans await election results with anxiousness, worry, and hope. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the novel Coronavirus and the circumstance it constrains voting to, it is not likely Americans will know on November 3rd or even 4th who the next President is. Sources say that it could take up to a month for the winner of the race to be declared.

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