For Democrats in Isabella County, the value of a presidential debate varies

The debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump drew the usual cheers, boos and occasional jeers from liberal voters in Isabella County.

Voters at the party gave mixed responses. Some said it was more of an entertaining TV show, others said it was a real learning opportunity for less engaged voters, and still others saw it as a rallying cry. As the evening went on, voters’ opinions did not seem to change.

Timothy Caldwell is a longtime voter who watched the 1960 debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. He said the experience has allowed him to compare debates across the decades.

“I don’t know if this has any more value than the other debates,” Caldwell said. “It’s more of an entertainment, catching people making mistakes on certain things. It’s a kind of ‘caught out’ moment. I think that diminishes the value.”

Mary, who did not want to give her last name, can still find debates valuable, especially for viewers who are not as engaged.

“I think they allow people who haven’t been looking that closely to get a good overview of each candidate and to evaluate them and see where they stand on the issues,” she said.

Cathy Willermet, chair of the Isabella Democrats, looks at the debates from a different perspective than the average voter.

“I already know their positions on a lot of things,” Willermet said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear anything new. This is an opportunity for people who are excited about their candidates to get excited. It’s an opportunity to see how they perform on stage. I think that can be valuable sometimes.”

Neither Biden nor Trump have officially won their party’s nominations. This will happen formally at the party conventions in August. The titles of de facto nominees were given to both because they received enough delegates during the primaries.

Republicans in Michigan declared Trump the winner at similar election rallies across the state. The Isabella County Republican Party did not respond to our request for comment.

The next presidential debate is scheduled for September 10 and will be moderated by ABC News.