By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

But the school had several factors in its favor to host the July 23 debate, said David Bohrman, senior vice president and the Washington, D.C., bureau chief for CNN.

“There are a lot of spaces in Charleston that are gorgeous, but not very big, and that eliminated them as options fairly early on,” he said. “The Charleston Area Convention Center was an interesting venue and it had plenty of room, but it was important to the Democratic Party that the event actually be held in Charleston.

“It was only the fact that the convention center is located in North Charleston that eliminated it from contention, but that was really the call of the S.C. Democratic Committee. When you’re doing a sanctioned debate—and even a nonsanctioned debate, to an extent—you enter into a kind of partnership with the party in question.”

The debate is the first candidate forum being presented by CNN in partnership with Google and YouTube. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the forum, but the questions will be put to the candidates by online inquisitors via video presentations uploaded to YouTube between now and July 22.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 tickets are expected to be distributed for the Charleston debate, with the majority being handed out by the S.C. Democratic Committee and the remainder being distributed by the candidates’ campaigns and the event sponsors.

While the debate will be the object of constant contact between CNN, the city of Charleston, The Citadel and the hosts of other agencies and entities that need to be involved, the real broadcast-related work at the actual venue, the 68-year-old McAlister Fieldhouse, won’t begin until the Wednesday before the broadcast, Bohrman said.

Nearly 100 CNN workers and contractors will descend on the city, along with the scores of journalists and politicos who promise to jam the area’s hotel rooms and restaurants in the days leading up to the event.

“While our broadcasts leading up to the event will obviously feature The Citadel and its interesting buildings as a backdrop, there will be many, many journalists wandering the city looking for sidebar stories,” he said.

Local vendors will be sought out to provide lighting and other supplies, as CNN is committed to renting and buying locally whenever it can, Bohrman added.

One significant undertaking will be the creation of the press filing operation and the spin room in the Gen. Mark W. Clark Hall, where members of the press will be able to interact with the various campaigns.

“That’s a huge job in and of itself, because you have to power it up, light it, make sure the bandwidth is available. By comparison, producing the actual show, even with several presidential candidates in the room, is really straightforward,” Bohrman said.

Among the ongoing discussions that are now a part of his daily routine are conversations with the city about what streets will need to be closed and how security for the candidates will be handled, Bohrman said.

Because two of the candidates have Secret Service protection—Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.—all of the candidates will be within a security bubble while they’re in Charleston, he said.

Charlene Gunnells, media relations coordinator for The Citadel, said although the college has held big media events in the past, the democratic presidential candidates’ debate promises to be its biggest event ever.

“That makes it both exciting and scary and also gives us a lot of work to do over the next five weeks,” she said. “While the debate is occurring in the summer, there will still be nearly 1,000 students on campus, engaged in summer programs, and, of course, there are people who live on the campus, so we’ve got a lot to think about and figure out.”

Among the high priority issues are working out security arrangements—particularly in regard to how candidates will enter and leave the campus and where they will be staying in the last hours before the debate—along with parking and how to meet the myriad technology needs of the event and its participants, Gunnelle said.

“It’s an amazing thing to experience,” she said. “When you think about it, there’s at least a 50/50 chance one of these people will be our next president, and they’ll be right here at The Citadel and right here in our city.”

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

SUBSCRIBE | REPRINTS | CONTACT US

Phone: 843-849-3100    Fax: 843-849-3122