The political discussion group Common Ground hosted a debate between UA College Democrats and UA College Republicans on Thursday.
Three students from each party debated the issues of immigration, the economy and the 2024 presidential debate in a live political showdown less than a month before the election.
“We think it’s important to encourage discussions between people,” said Jason Odom, president of Common Ground. “We originally started as a club where we wanted to discuss issues and find compromise, but we realized you don’t always need compromise, you don’t always need common ground, you just need to understand the person you’re having a conversation with.”
Prior to the debate, UA Democrats and UA Republicans selected one judge, and Common Ground provided an unbiased third party judge. UA Democrats chose Amber Buck, social media director of the Tuscaloosa County Democratic Party, while UA Republicans chose Kay Norred, WVUA news director. Common Ground’s selection was John Miller, UA professor and Common Ground’s advisor.
The debate began with opening statements from each side. Sam McKinney, a junior majoring in economics, represented UA Democrats and emphasized Kamala Harris’s policy decisions while deconstructing Donald Trump’s actions.
“Today, we stand at a crossroads between unity and division, between continued economic prosperity and a middle class up to its neck in tariffs, between the rule of law and demagoguery, between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” McKinney said.
UA Republican Emma Cabage, a sophomore majoring in finance and management, gave her side’s opening statement and explained the theme that would drive their argument: Are you better off now, or were you better off four years ago.
“Are we more economically prosperous today, or under the Trump administration? Is our border more secure today or under the Trump administration?” Cabage said.
“What has been done and should be done to protect our border and American citizens?” Norred asked as she introduced the first topic: immigration.
Jackson “Rick” Tarorick, a freshman double majoring in political science and economics, spoke first for the UA Republicans and underlined the Republican Party’s perspective on illegal immigrants.
Tarorick said there are a lot of immigrants coming to the country to commit something he calls “the three D’s: drugs, death and degeneracy.”
Sam Hoefs, a junior double majoring in history and philosophy, provided the UA Democrats’ statement.
“The bipartisan border security bill that Harris will reintroduce to Congress would hire more border agents,” Hoefs said. “It would hire more asylum judges and interviewers in order to help solve this crisis.”
Buck introduced the second debate topic, America’s economy.
“Under Joe Biden, we had significantly less inflation than any other major country in the world other than China,” McKinney said.
Sam Underhill, a junior majoring in economics, debated the economy for UA College Republicans.
“We led every single other wealthy country in the world in inflation after 2021,” Underhill stated.
In 2021, the United States had an inflation rate of 4.7%, but several other countries with high GDPs had higher inflation, including Poland, Russia and Argentina.
“I think the bottom line that we need to take away from this is that Kamala Harris has been in the White House for the past four years, and it has been terrible,” Underhill said.
Miller introduced the final debate topic, the 2024 presidential election.
Cabage spoke first for the UA College Republicans, discussing concerns about the Biden economy and the Aug. 26 withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
Braden Vick, a senior majoring in political science, spoke for the UA College Democrats and began on the offensive, bringing up Trump’s Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barret and the overturning of Roe v. Wade at the hands of judges Trump had appointed.
“Tens of millions of women lost their reproductive freedoms, including us in the state of Alabama. We have a total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest,” Vick said.
Vick also quoted Trump’s 2022 speech to The Heritage Foundation, where, talking about the authors of Project 2025, he said, “They’re going to lay the groundwork in detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do.”
Cabage denied any connection between Trump and Project 2025.
“Project 2025 is over 800 pages. You know who hasn’t read that? Donald Trump. Most people haven’t. It’s an online PDF no one has ever read,” Cabage said.
After deliberation, the judges found UA College Democrats to be the winners of the debate. The judges also awarded the best debater on both sides of the aisle, with Cabage and Hoefs receiving the titles.
Among the audience guests was Alabama Supreme Court Justice Greg Cook. Cook watched the debate and admired the respect and civility between both sides.
“College students need to register to vote. Most of the voters are older,” Cook said. “The college students need to be able to express their opinions, and I hope they will register after seeing this today.”
