First democratic debate brings about discussion

Students+watch+the+democratic+debate+during+Pizza+and+Politics+night.++The+event+was+organized+by+Junior+State+of+America+%28JSA%29%2C+Econ+Society%2C+and+the+Issues+Discussion+Club+%28IDC%29.

Courtesy of Shannon Hong

Students watch the democratic debate during Pizza and Politics night. The event was organized by Junior State of America (JSA), Econ Society, and the Issues Discussion Club (IDC).

Students interested in watching the democratic debate gathered at Pizza and Politics Night today. Shannon Hong (12), president of the Economics Society and Issues Discussion club (IDC) discussed the plans for the night.

“We’re creating a night where people can watch the democratic debates and become informed about the candidates,” she said. “It’s going to be a series bringing the community together with pizza and with informed voters.”

The event was hosted by the Economics Society, IDC and Junior State of America (JSA). Lucas Wang (11) chose to attend Pizza and Politics Night because of his interest in politics.

“I’m excited to just hang out with other people interested in politics and hear what the Democrats have to say tonight,” he said. “I’m hoping for [the democratic candidates] to gain national interest as the republicans have already had two debates and to raise awareness of the democratic politicians running for president this year.”

The debate, moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, included 2016 Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee. Presidential candidates discussed pressing economic issues regarding equity during the debate, along with gun control, ethics, marijuana legalization, Planned Parenthood and foreign policies.

Sanders, a Democratic-Socialist, commented on his concern with the economic class gap in the U.S.

“What democratic socialism is about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one tenth of one percent of this country own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent, that it is wrong today in a rigged economy that 57 percent of all the income is going to the top one percent,” he said.

Clinton also spoke on her plan to control capitalism in order to resolve economic inequality.

“What we have to do ever so often in America is save capitalism, and I think what Senator Sanders is saying certainly makes sense in the terms of the inequality that we have, but we are not Denmark […]; we are the United States of America and it’s our job to reign in the excess of the capitalism so that it doesn’t run amuck and doesn’t cause the kind of inequities that we’re seeing in our economic system, but we would be making a grave mistake to turn our backs on what built the greatest middle class in the history of the world,” she said.

According to a survey conducted by CBS, Clinton is currently leading the polls, putting her in the spotlight.

Clinton endured criticism during the debate for the use of her personal email to conduct government-related business while serving as Secretary of State. Sanders expressed his opinion on the discussion of Clinton’s email scandal.

“The American people are sick and tired of hearing about [her] d*** emails,” he said. “[… The] middle class of this country is collapsing. […] Enough of the emails; let’s talk about the real issues facing America.”

Chafee later made a statement regarding his ethics to which the crowd responded with laughter.

“I’m very proud that over my almost 30 years of public service,” he said. “I have had no scandals, I’ve always been honest, I have the courage to take the long term view and I’ve shown good judgement. I have high ethical standards.

Republican presidential candidates will meet Oct. 28 for the third GOP debate.