As the presidential election looms closer and closer, the hot topic of many conversations has been which of the two candidates is best fit to become our nation’s president. Election day is quickly approaching, and many citizens are still on the fence about who they will choose.  With each passing day, the stakes are rising for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Debates are the time for all Americans to see how the candidates handle the immense pressure, and respond to the tough questions asked.  They allow viewers to see both Clinton and Trump give their thoughts on important foreign, economic, and moral issues.  The presidential debates give an idea about the values and ideas of each candidate.

Both Clinton and Trump have their own weaknesses and strengths, many of which can be displayed during the debates. In the first debate, held at Hofstra University, Donald Trump started off relatively strong during the economic questions; however, as the debate stretched on, he slowly gave in to the pressure and began making controversial comments and averting questions with random statements.  Although averting questions is a technique frequently used in political debates, Trump’s answers were extremely random and not relevant at all to the topics during this debate.

“Honestly, I don’t really like either candidate, but I do think that it was obvious that Trump didn’t always handle the pressure well,” said sophomore Jacob Fain.

The second debate, held at Washington University in St. Louis in a town hall setting, was characterized by the candidates making sharp quips at each other back and forth.  While this arguably more relaxed setting was conducive to this acrimony, this fighting characterizes the unprecedented hostility of the candidates this election.

Trump also shocked a number of people during the third debate when he stated that certain “bad hombres” needed to be deported from the country.  This controversial statement made led to major headlines on many news outlets.

According to Merriam-Webster, the amount of searches for the Spanish word hombre, which translates to man, increased by 120,000% over the hourly average after Trump used this phrase in the debate.

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton was able to keep relatively cool throughout the debates, but most of her answers only gave way to more questions.  A lot of the time, Hillary Clinton seemed to be trying to make herself relatable to the middle class because that is where she knows she will receive the most votes. Although this is a good tactic in a presidential debate, many times Hillary Clinton would seem more concerned with herself and personal power rather than the actual good of the people.

“Hillary Clinton was really putting a lot of effort towards making people like her by saying things she thought people would want to hear,” said sophomore Morgan Gearty.

Schreiber has many outlets for discussing contemporary political matters.  Many of the social studies teachers, including Dr. O’Connor, are glad to speak with students regarding recent events.

Other teachers, as well as clubs, also supply great outlets for students to voice their opinions at school. For the most part, Schreiber is a comfortable environment where students can express how they feel about both candidates, as well as everything else that has happened regarding the upcoming election.

“Schreiber is a great place to discuss things about both candidates. Almost all my teachers are extremely open to talking about it,” said sophomore Caitlin Kane.

As the presidential election looms closer, remember to keep up to date with all the election activity. And, if you are eighteen or over, remember to vote this November! As you can tell, it has been quite a colorful campaign, and the battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is far from over.