The Tennessee Democratic Party headquarters in The Nations was energized on Tuesday night ahead of the first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. More than 100 people showed up to watch the two candidates, meeting on the debate stage for the first time. Throughout the night, there were cheers and laughs as well as some vocal opposition of Trump.
Many younger voters were in the crowd, and the room quieted down when Harris was asked about the Israel-Hamas war. At the event Tuesday was Joshua Patrick, regional organizing director for Democrat Megan Barry’s campaign for Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green’s seat. He was a Tennessee delegate at the Democratic National Convention and is on the board for the Williamson County Young Democrats and the state executive committee for the Tennessee Democratic Party.
Presidential debate watch party at the Tennessee Democratic Party headquarters in The Nations
Patrick said he was pleased by the turnout for the watch party because he had not, despite working in Davidson County politics, met the majority of attendees. Before the debate, he said he expected Harris to talk about joy, while he predicted that Trump would likely focus his talking points on “doom and gloom.” Afterward, Patrick said the debate unfolded exactly as he expected.
“Kamala went with joy and hope and moving forward, and that frankly is what I want to see for the country and I think is what most Americans want to see,” Patrick said.
Catherine Ramsey said the energy in the room was similar to that of the Barack Obama campaign years, but noted the job for Democrats is to motivate people to head to the polls to vote.
“I am a child of a segregated system,” Ramsey said when asked if she thought she would see a female president in her lifetime. “If you had asked me in the ’50s, I would have said never. If you had asked me in the ’60s, when I was on the Freedom Rider bus, I’d say, 'Everything is possible.' After Obama, everything is possible.”
Presidential debate watch party at the Tennessee Democratic Party headquarters in The Nations
Harris supporter Lee Beth Kilgore said after the debate she thought Harris’ prep paid off. Kilgore had voted as a Democrat in the past, supporting former President Obama, but didn’t become engaged in politics until more recently.
“I was probably a low-information voter prior to that,” Kilgore said. “When Trump entered the race, I began paying attention.”
After Trump’s loss to Joe Biden and the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, Kilgore began learning more about the Christian nationalism movement. She grew up an evangelical Christian with a Baptist minister for a father and decided she had to do something more than just vote. Now she volunteers, knocking on doors for candidates like Gloria Johnson, who's challenging Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn for one of the state's two U.S. Senate seats.
Presidential debate watch party at the Tennessee Democratic Party headquarters in The Nations
Blackburn took to Facebook during the debate to criticize Harris and to paint ABC's debate moderators as unfair to Trump. Green also posted on Facebook, noting his support for Trump and criticisms of Harris. Most of Tennessee’s Republican coalition, however, was largely quiet on social media Tuesday night — unlike after Trump’s debate against Biden in June. Tennessee Young Republicans, Tennessee Faith & Freedom Coalition, and Americans for Prosperity’s Tennessee chapter hosted a watch party of their own at Jonathan’s Grille in Germantown.
Hendrell Remus, chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, told Scene sister publication the Nashville Post that the debate showed the contrast between the two candidates.
“I think tonight Vice President Harris sent a clear message that our party is the big tent,” Remus said. “That we’re ready to welcome every American, every Tennessean, who is ready to go to work and who believes in everything that America is built on. ... Republicans and independents who still believe in the decency and the dignity and the civility of politics — our party is the place for them. That’s how we get back to space that’s outside of the chaos that Donald Trump has created.”
A version of this article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
