Bill Clinton, George W. Bush to Debate in NYC
NOTE: This Event Has Been Called Off. See the Bottom of This Post.
It is, according to organizers, "the hottest ticket in political history": On February 25th, former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will share a stage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Interested spectators can pay $60 for the cheap seats or up to $160 to be closer to the action. They can also shell out $1,250 to attend a cocktail reception with the former presidents in addition to the discussion.
As Newsday reports, the two men have been teaming up a lot: They appeared together in Toronto in May (reports speculated that they earned $150,000 each for the hour-long appearance) and will be together at a TD Ameritrade conference in Florida in February.
A spokesperson for Madison Square Garden Entertainment, which is hosting the event, declined to discuss what, if anything, the former presidents are being paid. Organizers at these sorts of events generally do not disclose compensation.
A press release from the group said the two men will discuss "topics ranging from the economy to foreign policy."
"The series will be formatted to allow for President Clinton and President Bush to each present their thoughts on a wide range of important current events and national issues through a moderated question and answer period during which the moderator can elicit information and insights into particularly pertinent topics of the day," according to the release.
A spokesperson for MSG Entertainment said the moderator would be announced closer to the date of the event.
The discussion may not offer the fireworks that partisans might hope for: At the Toronto event, Mr. Bush called Mr. Clinton "brother" and the two rarely disagreed despite their ideological differences. The Toronto crowd was reportedly disappointed and had hoped for a more spirited debate.
The two men did differ occasionally, with Mr. Bush rejecting Mr. Clinton's suggestion that his attention had been diverted away from Afghanistan because of the Iraq war.
Mr. Bush recently spoke at a motivational seminar in Texas designed to "give the average American the opportunity to be able to experience the really amazing story of being face to face with the greatest leaders and achievers on the planet."
Unlike his former vice president, Dick Cheney, Mr. Bush has not been critical of President Obama, saying his successor "deserves my silence."
UPDATE: The New York Post is reporting (and CNN confirms) that the event has been called off because "the promoter overhyped it as a death-match faceoff between the men," as the Post puts it.
"This event...was supposed to be a discussion between the two former presidents, and has been cancelled because it was not being billed as such by an overeager promoter," Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna told the Post.