Election season is full of key events, especially in a presidential year. The political conventions and debates provide opportunities to highlight critical kids’ issues.
Will the Candidates Talk about Kids’ Needs?
On Tuesday, September 10, Vice President Harris and former President Trump will take to the debate stage to talk about critical issues. Debates are more fun to watch with friends and other Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) volunteers – whether you watch together virtually or in-person!
This guide will equip you with everything you need to organize a debate watch party and highlight the need to focus on critical kids’ issues this election season.
Presidential Debates Details
The presidential debate will be hosted by ABC News on Tuesday, September 10. The debate will air live on ABC, the 24/7 streaming network ABC News Live, and Hulu.
ABC News will also simulcast the debate on additional broadcast and streaming news networks within the United States. For those who wish to watch the livestream, it will be available on ABC.com.
Watch with Friends
Debates are a great opportunity to learn more about where candidates stand on key issues. Because the debates are often televised or livestreamed, they provide an exciting opportunity to gather friends, community members and other SCAN volunteers together to watch the debate.
Watch together virtually with SCAN advocates: Contact your state’s SCAN staff member to find out what’s happening in your state online.
Organize an In-Person Watch Party: Invite friends, neighbors, and community members to watch together.
Here’s how!
Step 1: Determine how you will show the debate.
Will you watch the debate on live TV or streamed online? The presidential debate will be livestreamed, which may give you more options for finding a space for your event.
Step 2: Find a space to host your debate watching party.
There are many options for spaces to host your event, including:
Make sure that whatever space you choose is comfortable and accessible. Your space should also be equipped with a screen large enough for everyone to see and the required technology to watch it (e.g. Wi-Fi to watch it livestreamed or broadcast TV coverage).
Step 3: Promote your debate watch party
An effective promotion plan uses various strategies to let people know about your debate watch party and to help drive turnout. Be sure to work with your SCAN staff contact and other volunteers in your community to develop a promotion plan that leverages the contacts everyone has. After all, people are more likely to respond to an invite from a friend! Some commonly used promotion strategies include:
Making Your Debate Watch Party Fun
Help elevate critical kids’ issues during your debate watch party. Throughout the debate, you can ask people to do the following whether in-person or virtual:
We’re at the peak of the 2024 election season, with twists and turns around each corner as the country awaits who our next leader in office will be.
On September 10th, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will take on the debate stage to discuss critical issues that will affect the future tomorrow. This is a great opportunity to gather friends, community members and other Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) volunteers together to witness history. This guide will equip you with all things social for the presidential debates and how you can use your platform to raise awareness for kids.
SCAN’s Social Media Handles
Social media can be a great tool when you are watching the debate but it’s important you’re tagging the correct social media handles when doing so. When posting about the debate, be sure to tag the following SCAN accounts:
SCAN will be reacting live on X during the debates, so be sure to follow along and engage with our posts!
Hashtags and Best Practices
A great way to amplify your social media posts is by using hashtags. Here is a list of hashtags you can add to your posts:
Be sure to tag SCAN with any of the above hashtags before, during and after the debate for a chance to be reposted! Here are 4 quick ways you can engage on your social media:
*Bonus*: Record a 30-60 second video explaining why this presidential debate is important and how it could affect future generations. Please reach out to Yami (ynunez@savechildren.org) with any questions/ tips on how to record.
Sample Copy for the Debate
Help elevate critical kids’ issues by posting on your social media accounts. Here are a few copy examples:
X (Twitter)
Facebook & Instagram
Save the Children and SCAN headed to both the Republican National Convention (July 15-18, 2024) in Milwaukee and the Democratic National Convention (August 19-22, 2024) in Chicago to make sure kids’ issues were front and center.
At both conventions we partnered with Axios for a thought leadership event, released our new poll, engaged with media, ran digital ads that reached hundreds of thousands of people, and spoke with hundreds of delegates about early childhood education and child hunger.
SCAN at The RNC
At the Republican National Convention, we presented the Axios’ The Cost of Living Crisis for American Families event, focusing on how inflation is impacting the cost of child care and groceries – and what policy makers can do about it. SCAN founder Mark Shriver was our featured speaker during the View from the Top segment. In addition to Mark, Senator Daines (R-MT), Senator Britt (R-AL), and Representative Banks (R-IN) spoke at the event.
SCAN at the DNC
At the Democratic National Convention, we again presented the Axios’ The Cost of Living Crisis for American Families event, focusing on the rising cost of food and child care. We shared our polling which found that voters want the government to do more to address these issues. In addition to Mark Shriver as our featured speaker for the View from the Top segment, other speakers included Governor Cooper (D-NC), Representative DeLauro (D-CT), and Moms First Founder & CEO, Reshma Saujani.