Let history debate: CU examines 150-year-old political rhetoric

If you’re sick of comparing Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain or the two presidential candidates’ oratory skills, the University of Colorado is offering some broader context.

The school’s Colorado Center for Public Humanities will stage a re-enactment of the historic Abraham Lincoln-Stephen Douglas debates Thursday, followed by a discussion on political rhetoric’s evolution over the century and a half since then.

The event celebrates the 150th anniversary of the seventh and final debate in the series between the two candidates in a race to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. Douglas won the seat in 1858.

The debate will begin at noon in the Tivoli building, room 320, on the Auraria Campus in Denver.