Trump, Clinton debate today could have been here

To paraphrase Marlon Brando, we coulda been a contender.

Today was supposed to the big day here in the Miami Valley.

Debate Day.

It was to be the day the Super Bowl of politics came to town, bringing throngs of media and politicians for what is likely to be the most-watched presidential debate in history as Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump go toe to toe.

A year almost to the day since Wright State University was picked to host the coveted first presidential debate of the 2016 election, it is instead Hofstra University in New York that is hosting the debate tonight before a televison audience that could be as large as 100 million people.

"It's kind of sad. It could have been us," said Nathan Balasubramanian, a graduate cybersecurity student and chief policy officer for the Wright State Student Government Association. "It's bad we are not in the limelight."

Wright State had planned for a massive party on campus on debate day, with watch parties and a coordinated community social media and public relations effort. Officials predicted as many as 5,000 journalists and support staff would come to town, hotels would be full for miles around and the economic impact would be as high as $25 million.

In fact, Wright State President David Hopkins predicted that Wright State's Nutter Center would be so perfect for the debate that the Commission on Presidential Debates would pick the university for future match ups.

Then in July it all fell apart. Hopkins called a news conference and said the university was pulling out. He said security concerns were driving up costs higher than the anticipated $5 million to $8 million, too little money was given by state legislature and community donors and the financially strapped university couldn't afford to foot the bill.

“I hate this decision,” Hopkins said at the time. “It hurts my heart.”

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We’ll make sure you don’t miss a minute of Monday’s first-ever debate between the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

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