Republicans Debate
From left, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and businessman Herman Cain are seen on stage during the first New Hampshire Republican presidential debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Monday, June 13, 2011. The first Republican primary debate of the 2016 cycle could be in Cleveland this summer.
(Jim Cole, The Associated Press)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The GOP presidential primary cycle, already scheduled to end in Cleveland with the Republican National Convention in 2016, could begin here, too.
The city has been scouted as a potential location for the party's first official debate this summer -- and an announcement could be coming soon.
A source told the Northeast Ohio Media Group that crews from Fox News and the Ohio Republican Party recently toured possible debate sites in Cleveland.
The Republican National Committee, which is meeting this week in San Diego, is expected to issue new rules for primary debates. Party leaders were unhappy with what they saw as an overstuffed and disorganized debate calendar leading up the 2012 election, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
The momentary rise of lesser-known candidates such as businessman Herman Cain and the struggles that frontrunner and eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney had gaining traction early on were widely attributed to the robust debate schedule.
"I think debates are important, but just because you're a good debater doesn't mean you're going to be a good president," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told the Post on Thursday. "It's just too much of an importance on debating."
The newspaper reported that new rules likely would cut in half the number of Republican debates leading up to the 2016 election. And whereas the first debate for 2012 was held in May 2011, the first for 2016 wouldn't be until late summer -- possibly at the RNC chairman's meeting in Ohio, according to the Post.
Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center hosted a Democratic presidential primary debate in February 2008, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
The RNC announced Wednesday that the Cleveland convention will run July 18-21.