COCC students watch last presidential debate

They’re an important demographic for both nominees: young voters.

A dozen of them sat inside the student government room at COCC watching the last presidential debate Monday night.

The COCC students NewsChannel 21 talked with after the debate tell us they believe neither candidate won.

David Gillespie is part of a key demographic both candidates are trying to reach: a young, undecided voter.

“I feel that out of both candidates in these debates, Mitt Romney has held more calm, more level-headed (than President Obama), as far as accusations go,” Gillespie said.

But even with Romney’s debate performances, Gillespie is still not cemented on voting for either candidate.

“I can’t look at either side and say that I genuinely think that they are running an honest, factual campaign that doesn’t involve bitterness and arguing,” Gillespie said.

His main personal concern: finding a job after he graduates.

“There’s so many college students that are spending a lot of money on education,” Gillespie said. “And sometimes it’s an education that’s not going to lead them to any more well set up in the workplace than when they graduate (from) high school.”

Gillespie says he can’t see what either candidate would do once they are in office to fix that.

For Tim Apple, though, it’s more about what’s already been done.

He suffered a back injury. He didn’t have insurance, which forced his family into bankruptcy.

“So really, President Obama’s message really brought home to us what other Americans are going through,” Apple said.

Apple says Romney won the first debate, but Monday night, it was dead even.

“Now Romney makes a good case, but I’m still going to stick with Obama,” Apple said. “He’s on a path that I think America should be on.”

On the board tallying who observers believed won, the college students were pretty evenly split.

The Oregon Student Association, a non-partisan group, took on a voter registration drive on 21 college campuses across the state, including COCC.

COCC’s goal for fall term was 1,200 voters registered, but they surpassed that with 1,851 registrations, a sign just how active college students will be in this election.