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If there are awards given out for the most idiotically brilliant ideas ever and followed through upon, then the geniuses who decided that Portland should host a Republican Party Presidential Debate would win first prize.

You read that right: Portland will be hosting a GOP primary debate, scheduled for March 19^th. This assumes that there are any candidates left in the field by the middle of March. If there are candidates left in March then Portland will have an opportunity to host a two parties: the presidential debates, which will be a first for the Rose City, and the second will be a kind not seen in Little Beirut since the bad old days of the George W. Bush Administration. If the Bush Administration seems like a long time ago to you, then allow me to refresh your memory: on August 22, 2002 , President Bush visited Portland for a political fundraiser. In honor of his visits, Portland held a riot. The city dispatched SERT police, who cheerfully used teargas to remind Portlanders who was in charge of the situation. The riots began as protests organized by the Pacific Green Party, forest activists, and people generally pissed off about the 2000 election-theft, the drumbeat that would turn into the war in Iraq, and crony capitalism.

If a genius award is to be awarded to anyone for planning a GOP debate in Portland, the award would go to the Oregon Republican Party. Failed gubernatorial candidate Allen Alley offered comedic words of wisdom when he said that the world would be watching the Oregon debates. “By forming this unique coalition of media partners, the Oregon GOP is demonstrating the kind of leadership that Americans are looking for,” Alley said of the debates, which will be broadcast around the world via the BBC and Armed Forces Radio and TV. Amidst candidates winning primaries because they cheated on their wives, it remains unclear what kind of leadership Alley is referring to.

The city government isn't exactly thrilled with the planned debates being in Portland. Citing the cost of security, Mayor Adams says he doesn't want the debates held in Portland. "I don't want to pay for it and this isn't the time where I think the city necessarily needs that," Adams said. Adams isn't against the Republicans holding their 999^th debate in Portland; he's against the debate being held at Oregon Public Broadcasting studios, which would need security provided by the City of Portland, which is strapped for cash. Dispatching off duty police officers and SERT officers is expensive, especially considering the history of GOP-induced riots in Portland.

Predictably, Oregon Republican Party insiders seem dismissive of Mayor Adams' concerns. "Who disagrees with bringing civil discourse on politics to a city? That's not something that should be controversial," says Oregon Republican Party Treasurer Rob Kremer. Kremer seems oblivious to history when he said he doesn't understand what these security costs could be. "Nobody has told us what these supposed security costs are," Kremer said. "There have been 16 other debates in cities across the country and security has not been an issue in any one of the other debates. So why in Portland would these security concerns be raised?" Perhaps Kremer should look back to store front windows being shattered in riots in Portland just a decade before.

Kremer says the debates will put Portland on the map. He's right, it probably will, but it will do so in the political equivalent of Greg Oden's performance: embarrassing, painful, and expensive. Maybe Mayor Adams fears about cost and security could be alleviated if either the Oregon GOP or the Republican candidates took the initiative to pool their resources to pay for the cost of overtime for the city's police force. Regardless, mark your calendars for March 19^th, when the biggest riot-friendly event this city has seen since 2002 will be held.