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WILKES-BARRE — Four teens who take debating very seriously shared their takes on how America’s two presidential candidates did in their final debate Wednesday night.

The Times Leader invited members of the Meyers High School Debate Team to watch the debate in our newsroom and discuss how Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or Republican nominee Donald Trump did on the topics and overall.

On the debate format — each candidate having two minutes to answer a question followed by 10 minutes of open discussion — Natalie Davidson, 16, didn’t think it worked well because it allowed for too much interruption of the candidates by each other.

Davidson’s peers, Anthony Macko, 15; Abby McDaniel, 15; and Amelia Hammond, 17, disagreed, with McDaniel saying the moderator, Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, had “more control” over the candidates than moderators of the previous two debates.

As for which candidate did better on the various topics?

Hammond said Trump “was trying to argue with Hillary Clinton about something they kind of agreed on … and Hillary Clinton kind of won that side because Donald Trump wasn’t on topic.”

McDaniel thinks Clinton “stood out there” on the abortion issue with better answers. Macko said Clinton had “a stronger stance” and Trump “didn’t come out with a strong statement like Hillary Clinton did about whether or not abortion should be legal.”

On fitness to serve, McDaniel said Trump answered the questions, but Clinton “never once talked about defending former President Bill Clinton” and instead “threw jabs at” Trump. The other students agreed.

Davidson said it “would have helped” Clinton if she responded directly to Trump’s remarks about deleted emails and a four-star general “goes to prison” when she is not held accountable.

On the candidates’ economic plans, Hammond said Clinton’s is more solid, but she didn’t lay it out well or respond adequately to Trump’s criticisms.

On ISIS, Davidson said Trump’s responses were “absurd” when he laid blame on Clinton and President Obama. Hammond said Trump lost points when he lost his temper and started questioning the moderator.

McDaniel said Trump made a good point about not telling his plan and using “the element of surprise” against ISIS leaders.

On the national debt, the students didn’t think either candidate won many points because neither provided enough details on their plans to reduce it.

McDaniel said Clinton said she would raise taxes on the rich, “but she didn’t say what would happen after that. You can only ask for so much from them.”

As for an overall winner?

Hammond: “Hillary Clinton won. I think she keeps herself in control and poised a lot more than Trump does and that sort of makes her better. She also stayed on topic more than Trump did. If he’s asked a question he doesn’t like, he brings up something completely different.”

Davidson: “They were both pretty horrible, but Hillary definitely did handle herself better and actually presented what she had to say about the matters on the questions she was asked were better answered than Trump. … Rather than just saying all this random information and attacking her, he should have answered the questions like she did.”

McDaniel: “It depends on what viewers are looking for. If you’re trying to get the undecided voters, maybe Hillary Clinton by a little bit. They both did talk about their plans on most topics. Hillary kept on saying what she had in the other debates. Donald Trump actually answered the question this time and he had control of himself, more control that at the other debates.”

Macko: “Donald Trump won this one because he was more on the aggressive side rather than on the defensive side like in the previous debates. He talked more about foreign relations and how we’re going to make our economy better. In their final statements, they both had good things to say, but Donald Trump touched on the more important things.”

The students were accompanied by attorney Joe Borland and attorney Sarah Borland, a brother and sister who helped start Meyers debate team 17 years ago while they were students there and have served as coaches for the team since graduating.

Joe Borland said the debate team has about 25 members from grades seven through 12, and they specialize in different aspects of debate. The four students asked to participate in a discussion immediately following Wednesday night’s debate are “more involved in politics,” he said.

Sarah Borland said all of the students who participated in Wednesday night’s discussion have competed at a national invitational debate tournament at Yale University.

Members of the Meyers High School debate team, from left, Anthony Macko, Abby McDaniel and Natalie Davidson watch the presidential debate in the Times Leader newsroom on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_debateteam01.jpg.optimal.jpgMembers of the Meyers High School debate team, from left, Anthony Macko, Abby McDaniel and Natalie Davidson watch the presidential debate in the Times Leader newsroom on Wednesday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

Members of the Meyers High School debate team, from left, Anthony Macko, Abby McDaniel and Natalie Davidson watch the presidential debate in the Times Leader newsroom on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_debateteam02.jpg.optimal.jpgMembers of the Meyers High School debate team, from left, Anthony Macko, Abby McDaniel and Natalie Davidson watch the presidential debate in the Times Leader newsroom on Wednesday. Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader

By Steve Mocarsky

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VIDEO

View video of the students watching the debate at http://tlgets.me/k1d.

Reach Steve Mocarsky at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @TLSteveMocarsky.