Many attendees went into the evening wary, scarred from President Joe Biden's disastrous performance during the debate in June when he was still seeking re-election. But Vice President Harris turned 26-year-old Jonathan Ponder's skepticism into conviction, the treasurer of Denver Young Democrats said during the group's debate watch party on Tuesday, September 10.
"It gave me more confidence in Harris," Ponder said. "Everyone was a little nervous about how she was going to perform, her first time on the big stage. ... She was strong. She spoke very well. I think, honestly, she got under Trump's skin. ... It's reassuring to a lot of the Dems."
Ponder and about 100 others gathered to watch the debate at BurnDown on South Broadway, an event also hosted by Adams County Young Democrats and the Democratic Party of Denver. People ate pizza and sipped cocktails as they listened to the candidates argue, heckling Trump through the screen and enthusiastically applauding Harris's remarks. "Not going back" T-shirts adorned the crowd, as did one "Brat"-green shirt with "Kamala" in place of the Charli XCX album.
"[Harris] makes it really fun to be a voter during this time," said 28-year-old Rebekah Hernandez, a government affairs manager and member of Denver Young Democrats. "I came in with low expectations after the last debate. I think all of us were a little bit jaded for most of the election. But I just thought she did a really great job. ... She responded really well all night and she kept her cool, which I thought was really great."
A lifelong Democrat, Hernandez said she would have voted for Biden if he were the party's presidential nominee, though she was "not super excited" about it. "But now I'm actually excited about voting for a woman of color," she added.
Gabriel Cervantes, 25,did not plan to vote for Biden for president in November, but after Harris took over, he is supporting her. Harris's debate performance further solidified his backing of the candidate, said Cervantes, vice chair of Adams County Young Democrats.
"I'm feeling hyped up about it. I'm feeling pretty energized. I think that Joe Biden was pretty lackluster," Cervantes added. "Watching this debate really gave me a lot of assurance. ... It exceeded expectations. Trump was obviously very flustered, he was very frustrated the entire time. I feel like it wasn't what he's been used to in the past two elections. Especially with someone as calm and collected and completely visceral as Kamala."
Cervantes is not the only one swayed by Harris's candidacy. According to Hernandez, attendance has skyrocketed at Denver Young Democrats meetings since Harris launched her campaign. With the Adams County Young Democrats, many individuals who "dropped off" during Biden's campaign returned to help volunteer and donate once Harris took over, said group co-chair Dani Dawes Cox.
In the last month-and-a-half, more than 300 people have signed up to volunteer for the Democratic Party of Denver, compared to the average of around twenty sign-ups per month, said party chair James Reyes. "You can see a drastic difference," he adds. "The enthusiasm level is through the roof right now."
"There's a lot of energy around her that we haven't seen around a candidate in a long time," noted Charlotte Pardo, 24, vice president of the Denver Young Democrats. "I feel great. ... I'm looking forward to the next two months."
Watch party attendees clap after Kamala Harris gives her remarks during the presidential debate on Tuesday, September 10.
Hannah Metzger
The room quieted as Harris was asked to speak on the issue, with a groan audible from the audience when she recounted the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked this latest conflict. After Harris finished her call for a two-state solution and the release of hostages, polite claps trickled through the venue — a stark contrast to the thunderous applause and cheers that followed her other comments on abortion and inflation.
"What's happening in Palestine is really important to me," Ponder said. "The candidates, they speak about it, but I wish some action would be done. ... Just a little bit more concrete in terms of policy on how they would address bringing peace to that region. A little bit more specific details on how that would happen and not just saying that they want that to happen."
Though the conflict is "one of the biggest issues" for him this election, Cervantes said Harris made the right decision by not going further into it during the debate, calling it a fighting point within the Democratic Party.
"I genuinely think that it would have only hurt her if she would have tried to delve deeper into it," Cervantes added. "I don't think she's necessarily going to change her stance on it ,and so I don't know how productive it would be to bring that conversation up."
Even outside of the Palestine discussion, the lack of policy detail was a common complaint following the debate. "I feel like we've heard some of what she wants to accomplish, so I want to hear her argue a little bit more about how she sees that she can get there," said 34-year-old Dawes Cox.
"I loved what Kamala had to say throughout the debate, but I don't feel like she was any more specific about some of her policy stances," Hernandez added. "I wish she would have gotten more specific. I'm obviously already voting for her, but there are a lot of voters who still feel like they don't know her policies very well, don't know her as a person very well."
Throughout the evening, the biggest audience reactions came not from Harris's policy comments, but her clapbacks to Trump; such as when she said Russian President Vladimir Putin would "eat [him] for lunch" and that said Trump was "fired by 81 million people" when he lost the last presidential election.
But perhaps the loudest cheer-inducing moment of all came when Harris responded to Trump's criticisms of Biden with this: "You're not running against Joe Biden. You're running against me."
The young Democrats are certainly thankful for that.
Editor's note: If there was a Denver Young Republicans debate watch party, we couldn't find it. The Log Cabin Republicans declined our request to let a reporter attend its gathering in a private home.
