6 Presidential Debate Viewing Parties In San Diego

All eyes will be on the presidential debate tonight. We were asked to students what they want to see. San Diego's first city -- black City Councilman will talk about his visit to the African-American history and culture Museum. This is KPBS Midday Edition. I am Allison St. John and for Maureen Cavanaugh. Today is Monday, September 26. Tonight's presidential debate will break all records possibly for the number of people who to noon. It's about so much more than positions on the issues. About character and who is the best person to leave the country for the next four years. We decided to talk to people who have the biggest stake in our future -- students. We have invited Brian Price was the vice chair of San Diego State College Republicans. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure thank you for having me. We also have an studio Divya Sriharan who is president of the SDS you college Democrats. It's great to have you here. What you want to see from your candidate in the debate tonight. I want& -- I want to start off and say that he is not our candidate. We are not endorsing him. With that being said there are some members in our group who July Kim and are going to vote for him. -- Who do like him and will vote for him. We will say that we are endorsing him but really will -- what we want to see his policy being debated. Like you said we want to see character. We want to see how everybody handles under pressure. Basically that is what we are looking for. We are not expecting anything from him and we are not rooting for him 100%. Students with the SDSU might be voting for either candidate or in other candidate for a. That is correct. From what I understand most of our members are planning on voting for the Libertarian candidate Jerry Johnson. Some might be voting for Hillary Clinton I'm not 100% sure. And as a voting for Donald Trump but as a majority of us we are not standing behind Donald Trump. Divya Sriharan what he looking for from Hillary Clinton tonight. I'm hoping she can clearly present her facts and policies because people are not clear on that. I am definitely hoping to see what she has plans to do as president and to prove that her qualifications are more than enough for her to. It -- president. How much does how she handles her adversary count in this debate versus policy issues. I think it will be a very major factor especially when Donald Trump is the kind of person who uses a lot of emotion. If she can stably clearheaded like she has in the past and present under pressure she does not crack and Tuesday is logical and thinks about things before saying them I think that would be good for the audience. Ryan do you think the students you have talked to want to see fireworks or a rational debate and information. There is always those people that want to see him go off and pulling them a little bit that's his ML. There are people who would like to see some actual policy be discussed. We have not seen a lot of that in the past. I think that there are a majority of students who would like to see him really go after her on specific policy stances and policy goals. I know that's what some people are thinking right now. Okay Tran11's one of -- Ryan what are the issues you must want to hear about? What are the issues that you hear most talked about on campus? Of course the economy for us is biggest. We want to be talked about -- talking about that. We don't hear talked about often at all. We want to hear about their taxes and better paying jobs for people in job training for people who are in poverty right now. We would like to be talking about homeland security and keeping our nation safe and we would like to be talking about any sort of issue that is regularly affecting students. Yes the environment is important for us. As perennials we are -- we do not share -- shy away from the environment talk. We would like to find economical ways to find solutions for the environmental issues and any issue that is dealing with students. Divya Sriharan what about the students you have talked to. To the talk to you about what it is they care about for the next president Is a client change -- climate change or more jobs? Will higher education. Their student loans will affect us later in life. I think for a lot of students it is hard to think about things such as climate change even though it is happening right now but it is a long-term issue when we have debt and loans and things that will affect us when we graduate. I will agree with Ryan saying that the economy is a big part of it. I know that both Republicans and Democrats are trying to make this country better and break the cycle of poverty. For both of you what is the mood on campus. To you think a lot of people are really engaged with this with such a stark choice? That's a tough one. Because I feel like it is talked about a lot and social media people are always talking about the debate or something with politics but I don't think that a lot of students are very civic we engaged. I don't think that they are out there talking about a certain candidate or candidates -- canvassing for a certain candidate are really getting involved in the election. If you like it is mostly rhetoric on social media. I feel like there will be a lot of voter turnout from students so we will have to find out and see what happens. What are you doing to get people more engaged? We are trying to show people both sides and what the Republicans want versus what the Democrats were and what we think would be better for our country. I would argue that a lot of students are civic we engage this year in particular and part of that has to do with the huge divide between Republicans and Democrats. Students all have their opinions. These are issues affecting us as well as our friends and family. When they see things happening on campus it provides that sort of space for people to talk about these issues and get involved. There is a watch party at San Diego State University tonight. There are viewing events at many campuses and you can check our website to find out where. I would like to thank you both. Thank you for joining us.