The First Debate: A Teacher’s Perspective

This week, Warrior Word reporter Gabe Apoj sat down with Mr. Berman to discuss the first debate between presidential candidates Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Mr. Berman teaches U.S. history, government and economics.

Gabe: Hi, Mr. Berman. What did you think of the debate?

Mr Berman: I think it was what we expected. We kind of got two points of view. One from Hillary who has a lot of experience in government and Trump-someone with a lot of experience in business.

Gabe: What was your impression of each candidate’s mannerisms?

Mr. Berman: I think it started off classy but that all changed after the first five minutes. It fell off a cliff after some “digs” were made. The  “handcuffs” were taken off after Hillary made a comment about Trump’s father’s loan of 14 million dollars. After that there was a lot of interrupting. But, that’s who he is: he believes what he believes and a lot of people love that about him. Having said that, nothing was unexpected.

Gabe: Was the moderator more focused on one specific candidate? Was he tougher on one candidate?

Mr. Berman: That argument could be made. But, he did a good job in talking about both candidate’s past. On a side note, I think Lester Holt is one of the best journalists and I really respect him.

Gabe: At the end of the day, do you think our daily lives will change when either candidate wins?

Mr.  Berman: It’s hard to say but I think one of the candidates will change our lives more, for the better or worse. I don’t want to give my vote away because I don’t think it’s fair yet. We have students who can vote and it wouldn’t be fair to them if I told them what I think.

Gabe: Thank you

By: Gabe Apoj (12th grade)