What a day!
It really feels like a “political Super Bowl” atmosphere here on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.
We left Kansas City around 7 a.m. It took us about four hours to get here. I was able to do lots of research and reading ahead of our debate coverage. The “Trump Tapes” are dominating the political headlines right now. It will certainly be interesting to see how big of a role they play in Sunday’s debate.
We got to Washington University in St. Louis around 11:15am. The campus is so beautiful!
The volunteers and organizers have really done a great job here. The media credentialing process was smooth. It was a cool feeling when they presented our 41 Action News team with a “swag bag” of debate souvenirs. This event will certainly be memorable and I’m glad I’ll have some keepsakes from this weekend.
.@WUSTL #WashUdebate2016 'swag' is looking sweet? @LexiSutterTV @christadubill @KCTomDempsey pic.twitter.com/BKvWXbKWA3
— TJH (@THellhake) October 7, 2016
After getting our special passes, we made our way to the building housing the debate hall. There are LOTS of media outlets here, as you can imagine. Fox News has an outdoor studio set up on the quad on campus. MSNBC has a setup nearby as well.
We’ll be doing live reports from the large tents and stages set up next to the debate hall. Our standup location is right behind the CBS News spot!
.@LexiSutterTV @christadubill @KCTomDempsey Outside live location-spot #32 @MDReeb @DaleMessing @jasonmasskshb @WUSTL pic.twitter.com/vWfm2psnLy
— TJH (@THellhake) October 6, 2016
I spent much of the afternoon going in and out of the main building. Lots of media areas are set up inside. A volunteer told me close to 3,000 media credentials are expected to be handed out for the event.
It was fun checking out all the areas inside. You can check out my Facebook Live tour to see everything for yourself!
I was able to meet and interview Steve Givens, one of the main debate organizers on campus. This is the fourth debate he has helped put together. He spoke to me about all the history of the event from over the years. He was quick to point out memories from the 1992 Presidential Debate, mentioning specific quotes he remembered from then-President George H. W. Bush and opponent Ross Perot. The school also hosted debates in 2000, 2004, and 2008. As a lover of presidential history, you can imagine my wonder while walking around the building!
I got to briefly walk into the official debate auditorium for about 15 minutes. I thought the area you see on television was much smaller in person, as well as the auditorium as a whole. Steve told me organizers expect about 1,000 people to be inside the auditorium Sunday night.
First look inside debate hall at @WUSTL. #PresidentialDebate @41ActionNews pic.twitter.com/KDpl9qZd4A
— Tom Dempsey (@KCTomDempsey) October 8, 2016
All in all, it is already an incredible experience being here. You can really feel the excitement and history on the campus. The amount of media here is overwhelming and I expect Sunday to be even more mobbed. I’m looking forward to witnessing the actual debate and seeing how it will be remembered.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
