Western Conservative Summit Attracts Seven of the New NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll’s Candidates

Congratulations to John Andrews and the Western Conservative Summit for attracting nearly half of the Republican presidential field – the largest field in memory. Each year, the event has grown and become more important in the conservative firmament of major ideological conferences. Now, it is a presidential-level event in a year with a wide open race.

Colorado may be a battleground state in the general election, but the state is often ignored in the nomination battle. The state’s caucuses are typically a non-event, with low turnout, esoteric rules and held the same day as many other nominating events.

But in 2015, Colorado will host a CNBC debate on economics in October, which will bring at least ten candidates who have survived the first two debates and are in the top tier of the polls. And now in early summer, Colorado has a Republican presidential forum with half the field. The presidential debate raised DU’s profile. The host institutions – the Centennial Institute and Colorado Christian University – have raised theirs.

See:
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll, June 2015
Western Conservative Summit info
The Gazette: Western Conservative Summit bringing GOP presidential hopefuls to Colorado