On Thursday, Oct. 3, Alumni Relations and the Division of Marketing and Communications co-hosted a documentary screening and discussion panel in Davis Auditorium to celebrate the first anniversary of the presidential debate held on campus. The event, “Political Realities One Year After the 2012 Election: The Debate Continues,” explored effects of the debate on DU, Denver, the election and politics today. According to Shannon Cross, events and programs manager of Alumni Relations, there were 250 registered guests for the event.
“One year ago all eyes were on the university as the first stop on the way to the White House,” said Deputy Mayor Cary Kennedy in her introduction to the event. “The road to the White House is now through the West.”
The event premiered a 20-minute documentary about the presidential debate at DU, which showed behind-the-scenes footage of planning and hosting the debate, as well as interviews with students, faculty, staff, alumni, media and political figures.
According to the documentary, the university hosted over 100 events leading up to the debate, with a cumulative attendance of over 25,000. There were 1,500 ticketed guests for the debate, including 300 students. Outside, 6,000 students and community members attended the Debate Fest. There were 3,000 journalists on campus, including over 700 foreign journalists. The university earned $56 million in advertising revenue.
Following the documentary screening was a discussion panel of political issues addressed in the debate and how they stand today. These issues included campaign strategies, social media, foreign policy, healthcare, the economy and the government shutdown.
Panelists included Seth Masket, associate professor of political science and expert on campaigns and political parties; Ved Nanda, professor of international law at Sturm College of Law; Lisa Martinez, associate professor of sociology and expert on Hispanic voters; Chuck Plunkett, political editor of the Denver Post; Sharon Lassar, professor in the School of Accountancy at the Daniels College of Business; Rick Palacio, Colorado Democrats chair; and Dick Wadhams, former Colorado Republicans chair and campaign consultant. The moderator of the panel was Cynthia Hessin, award-winning host and executive producer of “Colorado State of Mind” on Rocky Mountain PBS.
The panelists began by discussing Obama and Romney’s performances in the debate. They agreed that while there was a lot of anticipation for the debate, Obama did not seem prepared that night. Masket said sitting presidents often underperform because they have not had to debate in four years, while the challenger has just come through a grueling primary calendar.
“Obama was obviously capable of it, as he proved in later debates and as he proved back in ’08, but it seemed like he was not prepared that night,” said Masket.
Palacio and Wadhams discussed why Romney’s superior performance in the debate did not have greater effect on the election. Palacio said there was not a lot of change in the polls from the first debate until election day, which led him to believe the majority of Americans already knew which candidate they would vote for. Wadhams said Romney lost the election because his campaign decided to be a referendum on Obama instead of “painting a personal picture” of Romney.
“By the time we hit September and October the voters had no idea who Romney as a person was,” said Williams.
Meanwhile, Masket said he was glad the university hosted the debate, but events like the debate often focus too much on the personality of the president.
“The president is just one player and he is limited in what he can do,” said Masket. “We have a whole political system built of checks and balances. I think in many ways it would be healthy to have more political discussion that reflects just how complex this all is.”
Nanda agreed it is not who the president is but what is wrong with Washington and what that means for the rest of the world.
Other controversial issues of discussion included healthcare and the economy.
An audience member asked what it would take for America to have healthcare for all its citizens like other developed countries. Martinez replied it would require a major transformation of ideology.
“We are very individualistic in how we approach it,” said Martinez. “There are a lot of people who think healthcare is not a right. I think until more people recognize the benefits of having a healthy society, it will be a long way to get there.”
Lassar said the underlying current for these issues is the national debt. She said debt has made the country weak in terms of foreign policy and healthcare because getting involved in another country or adding another entitlement would require more out-of-control spending.
“Gridlock is gridlock,” said Palacio. “We live in a political time when cooperation and negotiation are bad words, and they shouldn’t be. We have not made it this far as a nation by not getting along and by our lawmakers not working together to get things done.”
Plunkett discussed how these issues might influence upcoming elections.
“In 2008, the president was promising we were going to have a new kind of politics. We wouldn’t have a red state, we wouldn’t have a blue state, we would have the United States of America. You look at where we are right now, a year after that debate, and the lights aren’t even on,” said Plunkett. “In 2014 and 2016 it’s going to be fascinating to see what kind of candidate is going to emerge. Is it going to be someone who tries to be even more extreme than the folks on the world stage right now, or is it going to be someone who tries to find some sort of middle ground again and compromise.”
