7:33: Governor Romney says “you’ll never grow the economy if you raise taxes.”

7:19: President Obama invokes President Bill Clinton’s arithmetic problem.

7:16: Governor Romney says President Obama’s characterization of his tax plan is false.

7:11: Governor Romney calls out President Obama on Joe Biden’s “bury” gaffe. Romney: “I love coal.”

7:07: Mitt Romney mentions Ohio first. Mitt believes that he can still win the state.

7:05: Barack Obama calls for a new “economic patriotism.”
5:15: Nathaniel Rateliff has exited the stage and some interviews with DU students were broadcast to the DebateFest crowd. The Lumineers are set to come on shortly.

4:59:MSNBC anchor Martin Bashir said the most important role of journalism is to bring truth and integrity to the people.

“I am interested in truth-telling, and I have always tried to bring a force of investigative inquiry,” he said.

He said as a journalist he has always tried to bring integrity and truth to politics.

“That is the role of media- to tell the truth and the pursuit of what that truth is,” he said. “This is one of the finest universities in our country, and the people of this university expect us to find out what is going on,” he said.

4:41: MSNBC personality Chris Matthews spoke to Clarion reporters about what he wants to see come from candidates during the debate.

He spoke specifically about the importance of seeing compassion, spontaneity and motive from the candidates.

“Those are the three things I am always looking for. Name all the great leaders, they have integrity,” he said. “I hope they talk about the big issues, I hope its not a spitball thing,” he said.

4:25: Nathaniel Rateliff is about to take the stage at DebateFest

4:23: Maggie, Roy, Mia and Mike have won the Mustard’s Last Stand Eating contest, winning 100 hot dogs to be donated to a charity of their choice.

4:15: The Mustard’s Last Stand hot dog eating contest is about to begin.

4:10: Hickenlooper just threw away scripted speech and makes remarks about Zach Heckendorf’s performance and addresses the audience.

4:08: Zach Heckendorf just left the stage after performing for the crowd. An Emcee change has occurred as it shifted between 7 and 9 news. Governor Hickenlooper takes the stage.

3:55: Pet Care, a pet adoption company, is also present with animals for DebateFest goers to play with in front of Daniels College of Business and behind the main stage.

3:47: Chipotle is set up close to Daniels College of Business and giving out free chips and guacamole to DebateFest goers. Also in that area are various lawn games including bean bag toss and others.

3:45: All the bands performing today are Colorado locals.

3:40: As students and members of the community mill around DebateFest, many different vendors and businesses from around the community are present. The “Oval Eatery” is located in the Mary Reed Circle and offers different food options ranging from hot dogs at Mustard’s Last Stand to gourmet Mac and Cheese and other options from Epicurean Eats.

3:33: As DebateFest kicks off, DU’s own Idiosingcrasies welcomed the community into the venue with America the Beautiful. Zach Heckendorf just took the stage, a Denver native.

2:45: Welcome to the DU Clarion’s live blog for the 2012 Presidential Debate at Denver I am Alex Proietti and I will be live updating the happenings around the University of Denver campus today for the presidential debate. Students and community members are currently lined up around campus waiting to be admitted into DebateFest at 3:00.

Posted 2:13 p.m. on Oct. 3rd by Sarah Ford

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar spoke inside the press room today about the importance of having the presidential debate at DU, saying it was very exciting and important for the students. “I think it is very important to host these events in an institution of higher learning because so many of these issues will impact student’s abilities to get an education,” said Salazar.

He also spoke about the contrasting platforms of the presidential debates regarding energy and the environment.

“You have two very stark visions on the environment,” he said. “Obama’s platform includes conservation and Romney would disinvest in the environment and turn back the clock on progress,”