Political tensions ran high last Friday in the first debate between the Young Democrats club and the Young Republicans club held in a packed theater, mirroring party polarization in America today.

The first topic of discussion was the concept of two years of free college, first proposed by Barack Obama during a State of the Union address and later affirmed and expanded by democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.

Next, the students tackled questions on health care and whether or not the United States should accept Syrian refugees.

The debate was moderated by Damian Ballard (12), Max Ferber (11), and Kyle Gray (11), members of the the Speech and Debate Club. Originally the Speech and Debate Club planned on asking about the nomination of another Supreme Court Justice to replace Antonin Scalia. But both sides agreed that the Senate should hold a vote on an Obama nominee, so they left it out, according to Varner.

“We were prepared to talk about the Supreme Court Justices that were nominated but when we got up there [the moderators] realized we were all in agreement so they gave us a surprise question on the Syrian refugees,” said Chetana Piravi, Young Democrat.

The two sides had been planning an organized debate for a month, according to Dallas Varner, member of the Young Republicans. Others included Amanda Rooker (11), Alyssa Mitchell (11), Keller Brown (12), and Kaylee Bashor (12).

Before the debate occurred Varner said,  “I think it’s really important especially in this election year that people who are undecided and don’t really know what’s going on in the election can hear both sides and maybe decide who they want to support.”

On the other side were Young Democrats club members, Chetana Piravi (12), Henry Lutz (12), Kurt To (12), Erica Delamare (12), and Kendra Shreeve (11).

“I think it was really cool to see how many people in our school care about politics and stuff like that. It’s good to know that it’s not just the people in the clubs who care about that stuff,” said Piravi.

While the Democrats arguments centered on more government involvement in healthcare and college tuition and less tax breaks for the top 1%, the Republicans argued against government prevalence in healthcare reforms, free college, and taking in Syrian refugees.

Members from both sides were pleased with their club’s performance, and were even more surprised with number of people who came to watch the debate.

“We were pleasantly surprised with how many people showed up. It was hard thinking of stuff on the spot to say, but I think we did well [since] we did a lot of research and stuff going into it,” said Piravi.

The audience grew as the debate continued, overflowing into the upper level of the theater. They applauded loudly when either side made a point. Some staff members were also in attendance at the event.
“I think our club performed really well. We had a couple slip-ups on some points in the debate, but I think overall we performed really well and stumped the democrats a lot,” said Varner. “The audience turnout surpassed our expectations by a lot,” he added.