Colorado Politics

Coloradans debate upcoming Republican presidential CU-Boulder debate

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You say stadium, I say studio.

Colorado politics watchers now know who will moderate the next Republican presidential primary candidate debate. They’re getting closer to knowing which candidates will appear in the main event and which will appear in the undercard performance. But it’s still unclear who will and who won’t be allowed into the spectator seats for the big show.

Cable business news channel CNBC, the Republican National Committee and the University of Colorado-Boulder — where the debate will be held — have limited seating at the Coors Event Center venue to roughly 1,000 lucky ticket holders, even though the stadium holds 10,000 people. Only 100 of those seats will be provided to CU Boulder students and employees, even though the university is home to 30,000 students and thousands of employees.

“It’s insulting!” wrote Boulder Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis.

But the stage, lighting, cameras will take up a lot of room, said a university spokesman.

“I’m no expert,” wrote Polis, “but I’ve never seen a video camera that takes up thousands of seats.”

The student government passed a critical resolution. Junior Bea Lacombe was all: Aren’t we young people always being pilloried as apathetic? She told the Boulder Daily Camera that the arrangement isn’t going to help improve that perception. “It sends the wrong message.”

Look, explained RNC Spokesman Sean Spicer, the debate is really meant to be a televised thing designed for an enormous broadcast audience and a live audience would only distract.

That sounds about right, said CU senior Eliot Kersgaard. “The political process has turned into more of an entertainment and media spectacle than anything else.”

Meantime, the Colorado Republican Party wants supporters to know it has at least two spare tickets — and that it’s raffling them off.

“This is an exciting time for the Party and our state! We want you to be part of the action!” wrote Chairman Steve House.

Not so much, said Amy Runyon-Harms, director of lefty activist group ProgressNow.

“The millions of viewers watching this debate deserve to see and hear how real people respond to these presidential candidates.”

What a show — and it is still weeks before Oct. 28, when the event is set to air.

The top group of candidates will have to have polled at an average of 3 percent during the five weeks before the debate. Candidates who notch at least a 1-percent polling average will participate in the undercard version.

The debate will be moderated by CNBC anchors John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick.

“We’ll focus on money,” said Mark Hoffman, CNBC chairman. “”Financial freedom, entrepreneurship and job growth are core to Americans’ decision-making process when they cast their vote.”

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Coloradans debate upcoming Republican presidential CU-Boulder debate

You say stadium, I say studio. Colorado politics watchers now know who will moderate the next Republican presidential primary candidate debate. They’re getting closer to knowing which candidates will appear in the main event and which will appear in the undercard performance. But it’s still unclear who will and who won’t be allowed into the […]


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