Click here to watch Part 1: "I Will Definitely Not Stop Trying to Get the Parties to Work Together"
During the 2018 midterm election, young voters turned out in record numbers helping to flip the House of Representatives to Democratic control. They are expected to play an important role again in the upcoming presidential elections.
Last winter we traveled to Wisconsin — one of the most talked about swing states — to talk with college students about what they care about, what motivates them, how they motivate others and how are young voters understanding their role. We spent days at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and La Crosse.
Kerri and Adam have an unusual friendship. When we chatted, she led College Republicans at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; he headed College Democrats there.
Not long ago, the pair organized a college debate -- and a heated one with ample topics to argue: President Trump’s impeachment was just getting underway, along with the Democratic presidential primaries. After their fellow Republicans and Democrats jousted, Adam and Kerri talked candidly about how their friendship survives the rancor.
“We definitely have different views, but we can find common ground -- and you don’t see that at the national level,” Kerri said.
“Democracy is at the root of it all,” Adam added. “And if you can’t have that - and a government that represents people - then nothing else can be upheld. No rights can be upheld.”
“I think that’s something that we can agree upon!” Kerri responded with a laugh.
But months later, something had changed. A multitude of major events, unfolding right after another. The President was impeached by the House of Representatives, but acquitted in the U.S. Senate. The COVID-19 pandemic shuttered classes.
What would become of their friendship - and their political views?