Election fever
Islanders join millions around the globe in watching first U.S. presidential debate
Although most Islanders won’t be casting any ballots this November, it hasn’t stopped them from getting caught up in the growing interest surrounding the U.S. presidential election.
A handful of Islanders were at Upstreet Craft Brewery in Charlottetown to take in the first televised debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Monday night. Unlike most watching the debate in P.E.I., Dana Kenny will have the option to vote for either candidate through an absentee ballot. However, he found little substance during the first debate and said it was frustrating to see a continued focus on Trump’s tax returns and Clinton’s email server.
“I had hoped that the candidates might put their silly antics aside and discuss real policies to tackle economy, education, health care, poverty, the environment, in other words, things that truly matter,” said Kenny.
He said his advice for other voters would be to ignore the debates and take a look at candidates’ platforms online.
“I’ve never been so disheartened and paralyzed by the portrayal of candidates and parties in the media,” said Kenny. “The American media has seriously failed democracy. Still, I plan to send in my vote.”
Jesse Hitchcock, founder of the group Young Voters of P.E.I., expressed a similar disappointment in the lack of policy debated.
“We were all kind of hoping and had our fingers crossed for that. It was wishful thinking,” said Hitchcock. “I didn’t find it was that heavy in content. It was a bit of a spectacle, which is what we’ve come to expect.”
The debate was a historic one for the U.S., attracting the most viewers in the country’s history with up to 100 million expected to watch the event.
Nielsen has stated 81.4 million watched the debate live on traditional channels, although the number would be higher when taking into account those watching at parties, online sites and in bars like Upstreet.
Hitchcock said she believes the higher interest is partially due to media presence around the two well-known candidates.
However, she also felt part of the interest is also from individuals becoming more involved.
“People are more engaged this year and we saw the same thing last year with the Canadian election,” said Hitchcock. “Young people, especially, are getting more involved.”