Will You Be in the Attendance for the GOP’s Presidential Debate in Houston?
Chances are, not likely. With this debate being highly anticipated before Super Tuesday, everyone is looking for a ticket. University of Houston will be hosting tonight’s debate at their Moores Opera House, offering the GOP 700 available seats. However, the university itself was only given 25 tickets (just under 4%) for it’s faculty, staff, and students, which they distributed in a raffle to those who entered. Not a student, faculty, or staff member of the University? Not to worry, our Texas Governor Greg Abbott is offering two of his own tickets in a raffle, it’ll just cost you at least a $25 dollar donation. All of this is to say, though you might be an interested and involved Texas republican, you probably won’t be in the audience of tonight’s presidential debate.
The city of Houston seemed a very interesting choice for the location of the GOP’s last debate before Super Tuesday, when 11 states will hold their caucuses and primary elections, including Texas. Houston, fourth largest city in the nation and growing, offers a widely diverse population that could be a representation of the nation as a whole. Further, the University of Houston chosen to host is also one of the most diverse campuses in the country. The thought that this debate could turn to a broader topic of issues was an exciting prospect. But if the audience in attendance to tonight’s debate isn’t even a reflection of the city and university chosen to host it, based on the ticket distribution, we can probably expect it to be a debate focused on the same issues (immigration, foreign affairs, personal attacks).
Although, with Telemundo having been sanctioned by the RNC to deliver the first republican debate in Spanish, we might get some real hard hitting answers to questions Latino voters are interested in. This job falls to Telemundo anchor Maria Celeste Arraras, who will be one of the four panelists questioning the candidates tonight. After all, most of the candidates are running on strong immigration reform. The question is, will we get any real answers or more political dodging of the questions accompanied with personal arguing and attacks to avoid any progress of debate.
Whether or not any answers are given, this is a huge step towards raising awareness and spreading accessibility of news to the large Latin and Spanish speaking communities in America.
While some of us have a chance (however slim it is) at being in the audience tonight, there is absolutely no chance of attendance if you represent any LGBTQ+ media. The Republican party has continuously denied any media or inclusion of anything having to do with the LGBTQ+ community. With the rise of participation in younger voters, many of whom are also involved in the growing LGBTQ+ rights movement, even as Republicans; it seems the GOP is more inclined to do all in its power to ward off the entire community.
Overall, it appears to me that bringing the RNC presidential debate and candidates to Houston, and the University of Houston, won’t have too much of an impact in diversifying tonight’s audience in attendance. But, only time will tell, and we can all expect to be watching the debate in anticipation and hope for something new as Super Tuesday draws near.
