Organizers, protesters prepare for Republican presidental debate in Boulder
Republicans going to Boulder Wednesday for the fourth GOP presidential debate will be welcomed to the state’s liberal stronghold with protests and a plane circling the city with a banner making a quip about the billionaire Koch brothers.
“I’m not sure necessarily why anyone chose to have a Republican debate in what is obviously an extremely Democratic community,” said Bob Greenlee, a Republican former mayor of Boulder. “I think the response is somewhat predictable in terms of students and others who are organizing various protests.”
Greenlee said he’ll be interested to see how the national press treats the debate and he hopes the “silliness that happens in Boulder” won’t get more coverage than the substance of the debate.
Amy Runyon-Harms, executive director of ProgressNow Colorado said her nonprofit is pulling out all of the stops.
“We are doing a lot of awareness raising around how many of these candidates are beholden to mega-donors like the Koch brothers,” Runyon-Harms said, declining to disclose how much ProgressNow is spending on the “Koch problem” banner that will fly over the stadium and the giant puppets that will be paraded around Boulder.
“We’re not afraid of the protests,” said Colorado Republican Party Chairman Steve House. “I think people should have the right to express their opinions in a lawful and controlled way. I think that’s great.”
The Colorado party is holding a watch event at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in nearby Broomfield on Wednesday night. He said the plan is to get as many Republicans involved in the debate as possible.
About 1,000 people will have access to the Coors Event Center on the University of Colorado campus. Only media affiliated with the host of the event, CNBC, will be in the actual arena.
Runyon-Harms said ProgressNow has been at the forefront of the battle to allow more spectators into the arena.
“I think there are going to be a whole lot of students there who feel like they have been shutout from this debate,” she said.
Greenlee said of course access to the debate hall is limited.
“If one watched the Democratic debate that was here not too long ago, the audience, I thought, was quite disruptive,” Greenlee said.
House said the aim of the watch party is to get maximum participation. Tickets are $50 and the capacity is limited to 800 people. He said there will be a VIP after-party for $80 that the presidential hopefuls are invited to.
The first debate between candidates Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki and Rick Santorum begins at 4 p.m. . Ten candidates will take the stage for the main event at 6 p.m.: Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump.
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A security officer and fencing block off the entrance to the banner-strewn Coors Events Center, the venue for the Oct. 28 Republican presidential debate, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, at CU Boulder, Colo. Republican presidential candidates taking the debate stage Wednesday in Colorado are hoping to carry momentum from a 2014 U.S. Senate victory in this toss-up state where independent voters outnumber the electorate from both major parties. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
FILE – In this Sept. 16, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidates, businessman Donald Trump, right, and Ben Carson appear during the CNN Republican presidential debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif. CNBC and the Republican presidential candidates agreed Friday, Oct. 16, on the format for the third debate, a day after Donald Trump and Ben Carson threatened to boycott unless they got their way. The Oct. 28 debate will be two hours long and include closing statements from the participating candidates, said Brian Steel, CNBC spokesman. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)