C-SPAN to Cover Nader-McKinney-Baldwin Debate

UPDATE:
On October 21, a presidential debate for candidates who are on the ballot in states containing a majority of the electoral vote was announced. It will be Thursday evening, October 23, 9 pm thru 10:30 pm, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. It is likely that C-SPAN will cover it, since both Ralph Nader and Chuck Baldwin have said they will participate.
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C-SPAN will broadcast the October 19 debate between Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and Chuck Baldwin, although it is not yet known if it will be broadcast live. The debate will be Sunday evening, October 19, at Columbia University in New York city. The moderator will be Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio. It is possible that Pacifica Radio will also broadcast it. The debate is sponsored by Free and Equal Elections.

Bob Barr declined to participate because he is scheduled to speak somewhere else that evening. According to this MSNBC story of October 14, he will be campaigning at colleges in Ohio and Virginia during the period October 14-23.

Free & Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) is a coalition of political parties, independent citizens and civic organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.

Use the above link to go to the FREE site.

Michael H. Drucker
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Open The Debates

While Obama and McCain squabble about whether to participate in the two party-controlled CPD debate this Friday, the campaign to Let Ralph Debate continues. Since the national media will cover every minor detail of the Obama/McCain squabble, grassroots support is needed to help get out a message of opening up the debates.

If you are interested in Ralph Nader's efforts to open the debates, use the above link.

Michael H. Drucker
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Open the 2008 Debates

2008 Presidential candidate Ralph Nader hosted an Open the Debates rally during the Republican National Convention in Minnesota on September 4, 2008. In this highlight reel you can see excerpts of speeches by Ralph Nader, his VP Candidate Matt Gonzalez, and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura talking about open debates and how they impact elections. It also features a musical performance by 98 Degrees' Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons.

Michael H. Drucker
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Open Debates

I just got this email from the Nader Team:

The Nader Team just arrived in Denver for the DNC.

We wanted to see what all the fuss was about, so we paid a visit to Invesco Field, the site of Obama's upcoming speech. Ironically, it was easier for us to get in there than it was to get in one of your debates. Here we are protesting that fact. As you can see from this photo, we managed to inflate a huge liberty bell at Invesco Field. You know, liberty: the freedom to speak and debate.

A liberty that third party candidates are routinely denied by the mainstream press and mainstream candidates. We want to change that. So we are issuing a challenge to the Commission on Presidential Debates -- liberate debates from corporate control and end the anti-democratic exclusion of third party candidates.

And we are issuing a challenge to you. You are the candidate of hope and change.

Consequently, we hope you will change your mind and make good on your offer to debate anytime, anywhere. Participate in the Google debates in New Orleans on September 18th and urge them to include third parties.

John McCain said he'd do it.

How about you?

Do it for hope.

Do it for change.

Give people a real choice this election.

Michael H. Drucker
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What's Next for Independents?

CUIP president Jackie Salit has this video message for independent leaders and activists in the national IndependentVoting.org networks about what's next for indies in the post-primary season.

Independents are interested in reforms that would level the playing field and take partisanship out of the election process. The following are a set of political reforms that are favored by many independents:

Open and/or Non-Partisan Primaries

Non-Partisan Redistricting of Legislative Boundaries

Non-Partisan Election Administration

Initiative and Referendum

Ballot Access Reform

Direct Elections for the Presidency

Same Day Voter Registration

Inclusive Multi-tiered Candidate Debates

The strategy to promote the independent reform agenda is broad: We work in the courts, sate legislatures and via ballot initiatives, through public relations and education, and in coalition with other reform and civic organizations.


Over the next four months, the network of independent organizations will be campaigning for open primaries, convening state caucuses in as many as 40+ states and refine the independents' reform agenda to present to the next President and incoming Congress.

Please use the above link to learn how you can take part in this adventure.

Michael H. Drucker
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Rock The Debates!

Never before in American history has it been more vital to have an open, honest, and innovative examination of America’s problems and solutions.

The best way to sparking the minds of Americans is to open up the presidential debates beyond the Democrat and Republican parties. Rock-the-Debates seeks to include third parties who will energize the presidential debates placing their ideas into the mix, without endorsing or opposing any particular candidate. We just want the ideas out and let the American people decide.

Use the above link to get envolved.

A Nevada judge has ordered MSNBC to include Representative Dennis Kucinich, a Democratic presidential candidate, in Tuesday night’s debate in Nevada, the Associated Press reports. The debate was expected to feature Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards. Charles Thompson, a senior district court judge for Clark County, Nevada, said he would issue an injunction stopping the debate if Mr. Kucinich is excluded. In a statement, MSNBC responded: “We disagree with the judge’s decision and are filing an appeal.”

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that NBC’s debate can go forward without Kucinich.

Michael H. Drucker
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Ramblings

I added a new feature. Use the link in the left navigation bar (Elections '08 Delegate Leader Board) to view the delegate count to the conventions. After all the votes were in, Clinton actually came in 2nd in delegate count, but the media has not revised their post Iowa outlook.

In protest of Fox News’ excluding Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter from its GOP presidential candidates forum Sunday, the New Hampshire state Republican Party has withdrawn its sponsorship of the forum.

CNN has decided to air an encore presentation of last night's ABCWMURFACEBOOK debates - at the same time FOXNEWS is airing its live Republican debate!

The Kucinich for President campaign late Friday filed an emergency complaint with the Federal Communications Commission claiming that the ABC television network "is violating its obligation to operate in the public interest" by excluding Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich from Saturday's debate in Manchester, NH.

Michael H. Drucker
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Demand Open Debates

STAND UP FOR FAIR ELECTIONS.

DEMAND THAT THE CORPORATE MEDIA INCLUDE ALL BALLOT-QUALIFIED CANDIDATES IN THE TELEVISED DEBATES.

ABC and Fox News are sponsoring debates just before the New Hampshire presidential primary.

Both ABC and FOX are ruthlessly using their control of these debates to limit choice of American voters -- before the first vote is cast!

Use the above link to Take Action.

Michael H. Drucker
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Open Debates

We are always for open debates for any party or independent candidates.

Ron Paul pressures Fox News
Ron Paul’s campaign says he’s planning an alternative event at the same time as the Fox New Channel’s Republican forum in New Hampshire on Sunday if the network continues to hold back on an invitation, a campaign official tells Politico. Jesse Benton, Paul’s national press secretary, said he likely would hold a town hall with New Hampshire citizens — an event that would amount to counter-programming and would likely generate considerable publicity for the anti-war libertarian. Fox News has not specified its exact criteria for the debate, but debate planners have long yearned to winnow the cast to permit more substantive and detailed conversation.

Dennis on Open Political Debates
Presidential debates are the single most important event in the process of selecting a presidential candidate. They provide the American people with the opportunity to view all viable candidates as they discuss important issues in an unscripted manner, designed with the best interests of the people, not the political parties, in mind. They are an essential component of true democracy in America.

Unfortunately, the value of this democratic principle has failed under the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). Established in 1988 as an extension of the major political parties, the CPD has transformed the presidential debates from dynamic political forums to "glorified news conferences," where candidates recite prepackaged sound bites and avoid discussion of significant issues.

I believe in the power of open debates to restore higher values of democracy and voter education to the American political process. By establishing a Citizen's Debate Commission to replace the CPD, the American public can once again see presidential debates that are rigorous, fair, and inclusive of important issues and all popular candidates. There is an increasing demand for voices that challenge the bipartisan consensus on many critical issues in America, and I am one of those voices. It is time for open debates that will serve the American people first.

Keep Mike in the Debates
Why is it that the Republican Party is more fair than the Democratic Party when it comes to the presidential debates? The recent debate in Iowa where Alan Keyes was allowed to participate, while Mike and Dennis Kucinich were excluded, is concerning to many progressives who view this as an attempt on the part of the Democratic leadership to get rid of its progressive members. Is this what's happening? Why are the candidates who advocate ending the war immediately and who support equal rights for the LGBT community being sidelined?

What do you think and what would you do to fix this?

Michael H. Drucker
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Exclusionary Democratic Debate!

Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been excluded from tomorrow afternoon's Democratic presidential debate, sponsored by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television.

With the race for the Democratic nomination tightening to a dead heat, it's important that the most basic principles of democracy are upheld. Changing the rules of the game as the game moves along - which appears to be the case here - is something independents protest strongly!

The Des Moines Register stated today that the criteria for participation in the debate that Congressman Kucinich and Senator Mike Gravel did not meet was 1) candidates must have a campaign office in Iowa and 2) candidates must have employed at least one full time staffer in Iowa.

The problem with this criteria is that the candidates just found out about it! And legally, debate sponsors are required to give pre-existing, objective criteria for inclusion. How else can the candidates possibly work to meet the criteria, or challenge it, if not given notice of it?

The Iowa caucuses are on January 3, and all polls show the race being very close. Kucinich may not be a frontrunner, but he does have support in the state. This is exactly the time when Howard Dean and the Democratic Party are supposed to put partisan interests aside and let the people decide!!

Here's what you can do:

Contact the Des Moines Register and Howard Dean, chair of the Democratic National Committee, to let them know you protest the lack of democracy expressed by the exclusion of Kucinich and Gravel from tomorrow's debate.

a. Howard Dean - call the Democratic National Committee headquarters at 202-863-8000, or email Deanh@dnc.org;

b. Carolyn Washburn - moderator of the debate, and editor of the Des Moines Register-call her at 515-284-8502, or email cwashbur@dmreg.com.

Michael H. Drucker
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THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SITES

FORMAT Each debate will begin at 9 p.m. and run 90 minutes. A single moderator will question the candidates, who will sit together at a table except for the Nashville debate, which will be "town-hall" style. A third-party candidate would need to have a 15 percent support level in national polls at the time of the debate to be included, according to the commission's rules.

PRESIDENT

SEPT. 26 University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.

OCT. 7 Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn.

OCT. 15 Hofstra University, Hempstead. It will be the first general election presidential debate held in New York State since John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon faced off in a televised debate in Manhattan in 1960.

VICE PRESIDENT

OCT. 2 Washington University, St. Louis.

Michael H. Drucker
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Lincoln asks the candidates

The next debate is the Republican YouTube/CNN debate being held on Wednesday, November 28, 2007, at 8 pm. Rock the Debates submitted a question, asking the candidates whether they would support general election debates that include qualified independent candidates, since the Republicans were once a 3rd party themselves. Sponsored by RocktheDebates.org, with Lincoln played by Lee Williams of Wiota, Iowa.

Michael H. Drucker
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