A Gallery of GOP Debate Signage

With a field that began at 16 candidates, the Republican Presidential race for the 2016 election has been a complicated affair. Even with the field for Wednesday’s primary debate, which takes place in Boulder, CO limited to 10 candidates, the latest faceoff promises to provide a cacophony of sound bites, innuendo and statements that will send Politifact, a Tampa Bay Times website that investigates the veracity of candidates’ statements, scrambling to verify the truthfulness.

But, in the lead-up to the debate, Republican Party leaders have invested in cohesive event branding that delivers the image that Grand Old Party loyalists are united regardless of whomever wins the ulimate nomination. And, the signs convey that the Univ. of Colorado plays the role of proud host, even if the arena that stages the debate will be mostly empty. As usual, signage plays a role. Although it’s not quite as playful as this giddy commercial from President Eisenhower’s 1952 Eisenhower campaign, signage for the debate conveys a dignified, patriotic personality (and may offset the onstage snarkiness portrayed by the candidates).