As the crowd of protesters approached the theater, their chants of “The people united will never be defeated” and “No RNC [Republican National Convention] in Tampa Bay” grew louder and many took to megaphones to get heard. On the opposite side, many of the protesters carried signs supporting Ron Paul. One man waiting in line to get into the tent shouted “Get a job” before getting into a shouting match with one of the protesters.
Emotions of all kinds ran rampant at the Watch Party for the NBC Republican Presidential Candidates Debate. Gaetano D’Anna, University of South Florida junior political science major said that he was just glad people showed up.
“The student populace actually turned out,” he said “It was an event designed for the Republican students, but the Democrats also turned out and the more liberal side counter-protested. I thought it was an interesting display.”
The watch party was held in a circus-like tent that could only fit one thousand of the students and general public that showed up. The protest began while students and public lined up to try and get a seat inside. Once inside the tent, the student government tried to change the atmosphere and attitudes of the attendees. Soft jazz music filled the air, but it could not drown out the noise that the protesters were making outside. The tent had two side emergency exits that the protesters tried to fill, but they were pushed back by security.
The emcee took the stage before the debate began and tried to rally excitement among the attendees by saying the name of a GOP candidate and seeing how many cheers each got.
Ron Paul’s name received the most cheers while Santorum only had one supporter in the audience. Then the emcee brought the crowd together with a USF chant.
During the debate, the candidates mentioned Florida quite a few times to discuss issues including agriculture, the housing market, immigration, the tourist industry, Terri Schiavo and the future of the space program. The topic of education was noticeably left out of the debate.
Ana DeLillo a USF freshman, business management major didn’t mind too much. “They hit all the main topics in my opinion,” she said “I wish they had spent a little bit more time on immigration just from me being from a state [New Mexico] where there are constant immigration issues.”
Florida’s primary will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 24, because of its size and composition, Florida is a state that the candidates would want to have in their favor.
“The I-4 corridor is considered the highway to heaven for politics,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor in a recent article on USF’s website. “Forty-three percent of all registered voters live in the Tampa Bay media market or the Orlando media market.”
Tampa will reappear on the campaign trail in late August, when the Republican National Convention will be held at the Tampa Convention Center bringing the candidates and the political attention back to the area.
While the tent began the debate at full capacity, by the time Brian Williams said “Go Bulls” to close the debate, nearly half the crowd had dissipated, including the protesters.
Many had lost interest or figured they could go watch the debate in their rooms without the noisy interruptions of protesters. One USF student said to his neighbor, “There is too much politics here for me” before leaving the tent.
Despite everything, DeLillo believes that the event was beneficial to USF and the students.
“I think that it was a positive experience for our education because everyone really stood up for what they believed in,” she said “It just proved that we are all active American citizens and I hope everyone actually goes out and votes.”
Mia Glatter can be reached at mia.glatter@spartans.ut.edu.