Guilford College will host the Senatorial debate between Republican Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Erskine Bowles on Saturday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m.The debate is expected to be contentious based on the comments made by both campaigns.
“I think [Erskine Bowles] has mischaracterized [Elizabeth Dole’s] positions on several issues,” said Mary Brown Brewer, the Dole campaign’s Communications Director.
The Bowles campaign has a different view on the election. “We believe that [more] voters will [support Erskine Bowles] as they become more familiar with [Dole’s] positions on the issues,” Bowles campaign Press Secretary Susan Lagana said.
The Raleigh-based North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB) will sponsor the debate. Guilford College’s Bryan Distinguished Visiting Professorship will underwrite the event.
Planned renovations to Dana Auditorium are being sped up in order to ready the building before the debate. The renovations began in February, but were put on hiatus during the summer for the Eastern Music Festival before starting up again in September.
Accommodations for the press also have to be arranged. Guilford is contracting with Time Warner Telecom to get 48 extra phone lines for the media. The Littleton, Colo. based company gave the college a special rate because they already provide Internet access for Guilford.
“[The preparations] have been incredibly smooth,” IT&S Director Leah Kraus said.
“This is something that several people on campus have been working on for quite some time,” she said. “.We didn’t want to [promote it] until it was time to be promoted.”
Some students on campus believe the debate was planned to happen during Fall Break so that there would be no protests by students. However, Ty Buckner, Director of College Relations said that the NCAB chose the date.
“We were told [by the NCAB], ‘[Oct. 19] was the desirable date. Was Dana clear?'” he said.
There are currently efforts to have members of both campaigns participate in an event especially for Guilford students that would occur before Fall Break.
“This debate would not happen without the NCAB,” Director of College Relations Ty Buckner said.
In addition to over two dozen commercial stations throughout North Carolina, UNC-TV will televise the debate statewide. C-Span may also be nationally televising the debate live or tape delayed.
The debate at Guilford will have the broadest coverage of any debate event in North Carolina.
Bowles and Dole won their respective primaries Sept. 10 and now will compete in a general election to decide who will replace Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), who is retiring after five terms in the U.S. Senate.
By far, this campaign has the highest-profile candidates of all elections taking place this year.
Dole sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 and has held positions in the administrations of five former presidents. She served as President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Transportation, and President George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor.
Dole’s husband, Bob, was a senator from Kansas from 1968 until 1996 when he won the Republican nomination for president, but lost the general election to Bill Clinton.
Bowles served as Chief of Staff for two years during the second term of the Clinton Administration. He also served as Deputy Chief of Staff and was the head of the Small Business Administration during the Clinton presidency as well.
Bowles is the son of the late Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles, who served in the North Carolina House and Senate and ran for governor in 1972.