Who'll Win Tonight's Debate? We're Rooting for Carl Quintanilla, CU and Westword Alum.

When the University of Denver hosted the presidential debate three years ago, who was the big winner? Not Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, but DU itself, which looked great on national televsion and got a big boost for its new brand (and paid $1.6 million for that boost). And who...

By Patricia Calhoun

October 28, 2015

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When the University of Denver hosted the presidential debate three years ago, who was the big winner? Not Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, but DU itself, which looked great on national televsion and got a big boost for its new brand (and paid $1.6 million for that boost). And who will be the big winner of "Your Money, Your Vote: The Republican Presidential Debate" at the University of Colorado tonight?

We're pinning our hopes not on any of the ten people onstage, or the school, but on one of the three moderators: Carl Quintanilla, a veteran journalist who's currently co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk on the Street.

He's also a CU graduate — and, many, many years ago, was a promising Westword high-school intern. This local kid made very, very good just tweeted this photo of the candy table in the debate prep room:

You can read a good interview with Quintanilla on Business Insider; we're just sorry he didn't credit us as his "first job," but instead listed the Wall Street Journal.

Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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