Earlier this month, the two leading candidates in the 2024 United States Presidential Election faced off on the debate stage for the first, and likely only time. The event, hosted on ABC,  lasted 1 hour, 45 minutes and was watched by over 67 million viewers across major TV networks according to Nielsen TV ratings. Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump debated over the economy, immigration, foreign policy, healthcare and more, while also attempting to use their time in the spotlight to display their visions for the future of America, visions that will shape the world into which we as students will enter.

This article is a brief summary of the debate’s major themes and moments, and of the effects the debate has had on polling data and on broader culture in the ensuing few weeks. A debate transcript is available from ABC News and all debate quotes used here will follow the ABC transcript.

The Talking Points

Former President Donald Trump’s main talking point throughout the debate was immigration, specifically his claim that Democrats’ weak border policy had let waves of criminals into the country to wreak havoc. These claims often soared into the extreme (such as claiming that Haitian immigrants were eating cats in Springfield, Ohio, which the Springfield Police Department quickly denied), but in total painted a dreary picture of an America overrun by criminals as a result of inaction on the part of the Biden/Harris administration. When pressed on his own policy positions, Trump rarely explained his policies in detail. When questioned about Obamacare, he railed against it as a disaster while claiming he had “concepts of a plan” for replacing it. His explanation of how he would create the “greatest economy in the history of the country” was similarly nonexistent. 

Vice President Harris had a broader suite of major points, and she focused more on how to change the future than on the challenges of the present. She put particular emphasis on her proposed economic policies, intended to create what she termed an “opportunity economy.” Her proposal included providing tax rebates to small businesses, increasing the supply of housing, and working on cost caps for medication and other necessary consumer goods. Where Trump mostly attacked the Biden/Harris administration’s record, Harris turned to the past where needed to deflect those attacks, including her retort that she and Biden had spent the last four years “clean[ing] up Donald Trump’s mess.”

The Barbs

Harris’ main line of attack on Trump throughout the debate was to tell the audience that they were going to hear an endless barrage of lies from Trump, a point she returned to repeatedly when attacking several of Trump’s more outlandish claims. Her jabs highlighted Trump’s claim that Haitians were eating cats in Springfield and his assertions that blue states allow post-birth abortion, particularly when the moderators themselves corrected Trump. Trump’s attacks against Harris were more varied, but one common thread was claiming that Harris’ lines either were “incorrect statements” (as he said in reply to her calling his plan a national sales tax) or that her points had been given to her in advance. His attacks, however, often fell flat, especially against Harris’ requests that the audience research Trump’s platform themselves.

Another zone of conflict that wasn’t recorded in the transcript but dominated the live broadcast was their body language and use of space, particularly when listening to their opponent. Harris dominated this field from the very start of the debate, marching directly to Trump’s side of the stage and intercepting him before he could get to his podium for a pre-debate handshake. From then on, Trump appeared nervous, and he almost never looked in Harris’ direction for the rest of the debate, even when directly speaking about or to her.

Harris, on the other hand, took every opportunity she could to exploit the cameras. Every time Trump spoke, Harris spent the time looking incredulously towards his side of the room, and several of her expressions have since become memes. Her early assertions about Trump’s lying had primed the audience to expect lies; her facial expressions ensured viewers would both pay attention to those lies and react with the appropriate bafflement.

Harris’ focus on Trump’s lying did not stop some of her phrasing from falling under scrutiny for stretching the truth. In particular, NPR notes her claim about unemployment rates under Trump and about the lack of American troops in active war zones as being misleading. Harris’ statement that “there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty… in any war zone around the world” is technically true, but US troops are still under threat, and in January of this year three US service members were killed in a drone attack in Jordan.

The Visions

While the debate is intended to let candidates discuss policy and leadership, both candidates also used it as a chance to promote their visions of America and the perspective they would take as president. Nowhere was this more evident than in the closing statements. Harris’ closing statement focused on her own policies, her ideals for the future, and her leadership, with only a single reference to her opponent. She further described her career history and experience that she would bring to the table, recounting her journey from “prosecutor… (to) now vice president” and explaining that throughout her career she has “only had one client: the people.” Harris’ debate work portrayed her as an experienced leader seeking to be a President for all Americans who will protect their fundamental freedoms while working to provide actual policy solutions.

Trump’s closing statement, on the other hand, focused entirely on Biden’s record as president and Harris’ record as vice president, and on the current state of the nation, which he depicted as disastrous. He called America “a failing nation… that’s in serious decline” and described Harris as “the worst vice president in the history of our country.” The only policy achievement from his previous term as president that he listed in his own statement was a brief claim that he  rebuilt the military, a claim he explained in no further detail. Where Harris portrayed herself as a candidate of progress and the future, Trump portrayed himself as a candidate who seeks to return America to a past that he treats as a lost golden age, without providing a roadmap for that proposed revitalization.

The Impact

Vice President Harris was overwhelmingly ruled the winner of the debate, even among conservative media outlets. However, it’s unclear if the debate performance has been influential on the electoral race more broadly. Politico polling analyst Steven Shepard argues that the debate had minimal impact, with polling averages barely changing in the wake of the debate. Pennsylvania saw a 1% shift in the FiveThirtyEight polling average from before the debate to afterwards, but that shift was the largest jump Harris saw among any swing state. Polls in Wisconsin actually shifted away from Harris, with the FiveThirtyEight polling average shifting from +2.4% for Harris before the debate to +1.9% for Harris afterwards. The cultural and media impact of the debate is undoubtedly significant, especially when coupled with Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Harris in the immediate aftermath of the debate, but it remains to be seen whether the media frenzy will amount to anything at the voting booth at the beginning of November.

On Wednesday, Jan. 20 of this year, history was made when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States of America. She became the first female, the first African American and the first Asian American vice president in American history. Vice President Harris was raised by Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan, who were from Jamaica and India respectively. 

This historic event has led to discussions about what is known as the “role model effect,” which helps people advance in their personal and professional lives by looking up to someone successful with whom they share a trait, generally race or gender, to make success seem more attainable.

Harris has publicly acknowledged the importance of traditionally underrepresented role models.

“My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,’” Vice President Harris said.

This speaks to the impact that the role model effect can have. It not only raises girls’ expectations and confidence for themselves but it, in turn, can cause the rest of society to see that women or minorities are capable of anything that white men are.

A study was done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the role model effect that supports this idea. The co-author of the study, economist Esther Duflo, traveled to 495 villages around India and surveyed families with children aged 11 to 15 in an effort to determine whether there was a gap in expectations for male and female children. In villages that never had any female political leaders, Duflo and her team found that parents were 45 percent less likely to expect their daughters to continue beyond secondary school. The girls themselves were 32 percent less likely to have those aspirations.

In villages where women had an active role in government, however, the survey found that parents had the same educational expectations of their daughters as for their sons. Researchers also found that girls were 25 percent more likely to expect to achieve the same level of education as their male peers.

“We think this is due to a role-model effect: Seeing women in charge persuaded parents and teens that women can run things, and increased their ambitions,” Duflo said.

Based on these findings, the inauguration of Kamala Harris into the second-highest political position in the country is incredibly significant for women around the country, especially women of color. America has been making strides in this area in recent history, as women currently make up just over a quarter of all members of Congress. This is the highest percentage in U.S. history and a 50 percent increase from what Congress looked like just a decade ago. 

Despite the improvement, 27 percent is still a low number, so it will be interesting to see the effect that a female Vice President will have on how many women run for political office in the near future. Outside of the political sphere, it is still very important for young women, especially women of color, to see someone to whom they can relate achieve such a high level of success. This can help inspire women to seek to achieve their own high ambitions, whether that be in politics, in areas like business and STEM (where women are still a significant minority) or in anything they do. 

In this land of equality and freedom that we hold so highly, not everyone has felt as equal or as free as others. By seeing nothing but a majority of white men in power for so long, it subconsciously tells young girls that there are some things that they just can’t achieve. Luckily, that idea is being disproved, and having Kamala Harris as our new Vice President is a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully, this will show all women, and the rest of the world, that they too can achieve anything.

On Wednesday, Jan. 20, Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn into office, marking a historic and momentous event. As the first woman, first person of South Asian descent and first Black person to be sworn as Vice President of the United States, her accomplishment is not only a win for the Biden administration but for Americans of diverse backgrounds. 

Reflecting upon the historic nature of Harris’ inauguration, the past struggles and barriers women and people of color have faced in the United States come into focus. History is fraught with discrimination, and accessibility to public office, representation and civil liberties have been denied to many Americans. Only 101 years ago, women did not have the right to vote and the immense progress our country has made is reflected by Vice President Kamala Harris. 

People of color have been barred from voting or holding office for most of American history, and it would be unthinkable to someone who lived 100 years ago to believe that a person of color would hold the office of Vice President. Historically, this moment will mark an important change in politics as more women and people of color are being elected to public office to represent an increasingly diverse population.

For people of color, especially the South Asian and Black communities, Harris’ victory offers hope in a political climate marked with violence and racial discrimination. After the Trump administration’s lack of protections for people of color and the Black Lives Matter protests, Harris’ inauguration is a moment of victory and a long-awaited representation. 

Although it is undeniable that there is a lot of progress still to be made to heal racial injustice and scars inflicted by history, representation in the highest levels of politics moves towards a more equitable future. Representation ensures that individuals have their voices heard and is also vital to creating policies that address issues within specific communities.

As a woman of color, Harris’ inauguration gives me hope for the future of politics because it creates a path in which more women and people of color can enter to implement new ideas and promote equality. I hope to see positive and far-reaching changes through Harris’ work and dedication. 

It’s inspiring to see someone who has had similar experiences overcome racial and gender norms to reach the highest level in politics. It sends a message that barriers can be broken. Personally, I know the impact that seeing yourself represented holds for creating motivation and passion. For countless girls and boys, having someone who looks like them as a role model carries hope that they one day could aspire to reach their goals or change the world. It is vital for our future that it be diverse and intersectional, and this starts with representation in politics.

Kamala Harris often quotes her mother’s words, “You may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.” These words are inspiring and hold an important message for the future of the United States. Harris’ historic victory is ushering in a brighter future for women and people of color and is not only an exciting first.