The Paw Print

By Madeleine Spanbauer, Editor-in-Chief

As Election Day draws nearer and nearer, the Payton community, along with the whole country, has been waiting anxiously to see the outcome of the election that could change the course of American history. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have campaigned tirelessly, and faced off in a heated debate on Sept. 10. Harris used her middle-class upbringing to help relate to voters, while Trump used a different tactic by appealing to right-wing voters by insisting that he won the 2020 election and that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are “eating the dogs.”

The 2024 election has the potential to be one of the most influential in history. According to NPR, President Biden said that the next president could appoint two new justices to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court already has a conservative majority, with six out of nine justices being Republicans. If Harris is elected, that majority could flip in the other direction. On the other side, if Trump is elected it would be an even higher conservative majority in the Supreme Court. 

Amal Meghani ‘25 encourages people to make a voting plan and says, “The 2024 election is looking like it’s going to be a really tight race that relies heavily on certain swing states. This is why it’s so important that everyone makes a plan to vote and encourage friends and family, especially in other states, to do so as well.”

One of the main issues in the upcoming election is Project 2025, a nearly 900-page policy guide for the next conservative president that includes ideas that would change many aspects of human rights in the country should it be instated. Abortion rights would decrease across the country, transgender individuals would lose all federal protections, and immigration laws would tighten to allow fewer people into the country. 

During the presidential debate, Harris showed herself to be much more moderate than many expected, for example when she said, “This business about taking everyone’s guns away, Tim Walz and I are both gun owners. We’re not taking anybody’s guns away.” Harris is likely appealing to Republicans in order to sway their votes in her direction. Her actions could likely influence the election, as many right-wing voters previously thought her policies were too liberal.

Several Payton students gave their opinions on the debate and how they see the presidential race ending. After watching both the presidential and vice presidential debates, Maren Theyssen ‘26 says, “For me, [looking at] the presidential debate versus the vice presidential debate, I think it was really nice to see how cordial the vice presidential debate was. They were being nice with each other and I think that’s something that’s creating a rift with every election, like 2020 and 2016, the presidential nominees have never been able to get along.” 

Theyssen added that she sees Harris winning the popular vote, saying, “I’m leaning more towards Kamala now because I know the polls are leaning more towards her. Especially since Trump has not been answering a lot of questions. Right now, my prediction is that Kamala is going to win the popular vote by a lot and then Trump is going to win the electoral college.” 

Anika Alavilli ‘26 says, “For the past year, my prediction was that Trump was going to win. Then, Biden dropped out of the election so now I’m less sure about how it’s going to go. I think people have been campaigning for Kamala a lot, but I don’t know if it’s enough and I feel like she’s not going to win.”

Jackson Glascott ‘27 remains apathetic to the election and says, “I don’t care, but I think Trump will win.”

Harris accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in another presidential debate on Oct. 23. Trump has since denied this invitation, making it unlikely the country will see them go head-to-head again. The election is likely to be a close one, so it is as important as always to vote and encourage friends and family to do the same.