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Last night's presidential debate took place in Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania is an important swing state with the most electoral votes of any other competitive state this election season. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of member station WHYY reports on how people in the state are reacting to what the candidates had to say.
CARMEN RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY, BYLINE: Democrats gathered at McGillin's Olde Ale House in Center City, Philadelphia, to watch their candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. The event was the first opportunity for many Pennsylvanians to see Harris engage former President Donald Trump in her first general election debate. Harris needs to motivate Democratic voters in major cities like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh so they vote in November, countering Republican turnout in more rural and suburban parts of the state. The debate may have helped with that task. Gary Coleman (ph) watched the debate at the party hosted by the Pennsylvania Young Democrats.
GARY COLEMAN: It went, in my opinion, very well. I think Harris did a great job at commanding the topic. But I think, more importantly, she did a very good job at not being derailed. He's very good at throwing a competitor off base, and he did not succeed at that tonight.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: That was a common sentiment in McGillin's. This is Kathryn Moriarity (ph).
KATHRYN MORIARITY: It would be so amazing to see, in our lifetimes, like, a woman elected president, let alone a woman who's also, you know, biracial. We're, like, younger 20s, so we're just before having kids. And I'm like, I don't want my kids to live in a world where Trump is president.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: The loudest applause of the night at the bar erupted after ABC News debate moderator Linsey Davis fact-checked Trump when he claimed Democrats supported abortions, quote, "after birth."
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RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: It's an attack line Trump has repeatedly used to paint Democrats as radical on issues of reproductive rights. But as Davis mentioned, there is no state where it is legal to kill a baby after birth. Closer to the site of the debate, Republicans gathered for a watch party at the Klimpton Hotel (ph) in Old City. Viewers there also appeared to be impressed by Harris' performance. Tommy Feldman said that he was surprised.
TOMMY FELDMAN: I think Kamala definitely surprised me. I thought she was going to do a lot worse than she did. I tended to see Trump ramble a lot. So that shocked - well, that didn't shock me too much, but Kamala definitely exceeded what I expected of her.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Jennifer Knecht attended the same watch party.
JENNIFER KNECHT: I think that Trump is going to prevail, but I think that Kamala's performance tonight puts up a tough challenge.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: However, Jim Worthington of Bucks County said that Harris simply exceeded low expectations.
JIM WORTHINGTON: You could tell she studied hard for this and that she had her canned answers. And she recited them really well. I'll give her credit for that.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: More than 20 miles away from the debate stage, students at Neumann University in Aston held a town hall during the debate called Pizza and Politics. Sophomore accounting major Adam Barisa says restrictions on abortion rights is his top concern, and he's going to begrudgingly vote for Donald Trump.
ADAM BARISA: Both candidates aren't satisfactory for me in that position. There's just one that's slightly better than the other.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Some students, like criminal justice major Nadira Roberts are still unsure about their plans since neither candidate adequately addressed issues she's concerned about.
NADIRA ROBERTS: I wanted to hear more about climate change. I feel like we didn't get that much answered, especially as that's a rapid issue that's going on in our society.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: However, the debate has helped at least one voter settle in on a candidate. Ilene Fisk of Philadelphia, who is also concerned about the environment, wasn't sure what she was going to do, but now plans to vote for Harris.
ILENE FISK: Do I think she said, for the greater good, many of the right things? Yes. Do I think that because she held her composure and she was a professional? That's the image we need from a world leader.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: No second debate has been scheduled yet. But either way, early voting here is set to begin soon.
For NPR News, I'm Carmen Russell-Sluchansky in Philadelphia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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