2020 Democratic Primary Debate: An SSU Watch Party Event

By: Rachael Kuper '20
The Starbucks on Central Campus is humming with activity. The big screen is showing the October 15th pre-debate commentary on mute, a table in the middle of the room is stacked high with countless PZA pizza boxes, and people chat quietly in small groups. A polite woman with a clipboard approaches students to offer voter registration forms.
At roughly 7:30, the room is called to order.
After a brief introduction, the candidates for the Ward 7 (which encompasses almost all of Salem State University) City Council seat, Steven Dibble and Andy Verla, give short speeches.
Dibble, the incumbent, spoke of his accomplishments on Salem streets and his connections to SSU. He leaned on his being a graduate and his son’s current enrollment. Dibble explained he visits campus often, in particular for MassPIRG meetings. He said his main concerns in the ward are environmental. Dibble closed by asking for our votes, and by encouraging students to get involved with the charity he participates with, Planet Aid.
The student next to me leaned over and whispered, “I heard it’s a cult.” Well, that’s interesting.
Next to speak, Varela, introduced himself as a local farmer and family man, he grows vegetables, flowers, and hemp. Varela said he wants change and sees community engagement as stagnant, with SSU at the center. He spoke of the unsatisfactory transit system and new scooters, and the need for better commuter parking. Varela closed by speaking on food scarcity in Salem, saying he wants to utilize food forests and urban farms to help our citizens. He advocated for a food market.
“Don’t we have a bi-weekly pantry at SSU?” I murmur to my neighbor. She nods.
As the televised debate watching starts, the crowd wanes. They trickle out in couples and triples, at uneven intervals throughout the debate’s three hours. From well over thirty during the City Council Candidates speaking, as the party kept on trucking, the watchers diminished to less than twenty by the time Starbucks closed at 10:30. The debate still hadn’t finished.
The students weren’t very active watchers to begin with. Most had phones under their noses the whole time. Some had laptops out. Few speeches gained any response from viewers in this room. When Harris brought up female health care access rights, some clapped and cheered. Same for Booker’s calling women people and Bernie’s Green New Deal. Yet for the majority of the debate, the room was quiet, if inattentive.
Do SSU students care about politics? If engagement at this event and comments in classes are any indication, not much – at least not now.