The Republican National Committee locked the doors Thursday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland for the 5 PM debate.
I know politicians have major egos, but it has to be pretty crushing to look out and see this audience. (NYT photo). pic.twitter.com/0FRHs7g7Or
— Eric Berger (@chronsciguy) August 6, 2015
Former Senator Rick Santorum told Greta Van Susteren the candidates were given about a dozen tickets for family and friends. The RNC also scheduled votes at the same time as the early debate.
Why would anyone pledge to support this group of elitist dopes?
CBS Local reported:
Former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum criticized FOX News and Republican National Committee for their handling of the first Republican presidential debate process.
Santorum, who was relegated to a late afternoon debate with six other candidates not polling well enough to meet the FOX criteria for the prime time debate, told Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that he objected to the lack of an audience in a vacant arena.
“The initial frustration was walking out on stage and having nobody in the arena, which was off putting to some people and some people were, pretty much, thrown of their game by it. In fact, several admitted it. The sad thing was the RNC didn’t allow anybody to come in. That’s what people don’t know. It’s not that people didn’t want to come. People wanted to come but they weren’t allowed in. They actually wanted an empty hall. None of us knew that.”
He said an audience would’ve changed the dynamic of the atmosphere, giving them a more comparable experience to the later debate.
“They locked the doors. They wouldn’t let anybody in. That was part of the conversation afterwards. Look at the dynamism and the energy in the room because you had all these people [at the prime time debate] and you had to muster your own energy. It was almost like a one-on-one interview and if you’re doing an one-on-one interview it’s hard to project that kind of passion. I thought we did okay but I think other folks found it off-putting.”
