Parties Tour Potential Debate Locations

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(UNDATED) - Representatives of the Commission on Presidential Debates complete a two-day swing through Indiana Wednesday, checking out the state’s two candidates to host a debate next year.

Two event producers will visit Richmond, a day after they toured the Indiana University campus in Bloomington.

Bloomington Tourism Director Rob Decleene says the team and a Secret Service representative are assessing capacity and security issues, as well as how to accommodate an expected 750 reporters in need of a filing center.

"They didn't really have any questions. Basically, what they did is give us an overview of what they were going to be doing, and we just had an opportunity to meet them and show our support," Decleene says.

In Richmond, Mayor Sally Hutton took a turn pulling weeds Tuesday in advance of the debate commission's visit, while the city encouraged residents to leave Fourth of July decorations up.

Richmond and Bloomington are among 17 cities in 14 states asking to host a debate next year. The commission is expected to pick four sites in October or November, with three designated for presidential debates and one for a vice-presidential debate. It would remain up to the nominees' campaigns to agree on terms.

In past years, some debates have been canceled while the candidates haggled, though there has been at least one debate in every presidential campaign since 1976.

Richmond is the third-smallest city seeking to host, though the second-smallest -- Danville, Kentucky--is one of four applicants which have hosted before.

Danville's Centre College was the battleground for the 2000 vice-presidential debate between Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman.

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