[WB-Discuss] Presidential Debates in 2004

[Aram Falsafi]

Please sign on, and spread the word.

-Aram


----- Forwarded message from Jim Henderson <jdh87 at alumni.princeton.edu> -----
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 09:47:00 -0500
From: Jim Henderson <jdh87 at alumni.princeton.edu>
Reply-To: Jim Henderson <jdh87 at alumni.princeton.edu>
Subject: Presidential Debates in 2004
To: "James D.Henderson" <jdh at jagersmith.com>

Good morning!

Flipping through C-SPAN last night, I came across a discussion
regarding the Presidential debates that will, no doubt, be held later
on this year.  The sponsoring organization, "OpenDebates.org", has
filed a complaint with the FEC against the existing "bipartisan"
Commission on Presidential Debates, apparently claiming that a public
benefit is not served by (1) restricting the nature of the debates to
soft questioning and no interaction between the candidates, and (2)
excluding broad-based "third party" candidates (see Ralph Nader in 2000
at the Boston debate) from the debates.  For once in my life, shocking
as it may be, I actually agree with Alan Keyes, who is one of the board
members of the organization (the members of this organization stretch
across the political spectrum), that the debate structure must be
changed for the benefit of the democratic process.

This organization has proposed establishing a nonpartisan Citizens'
Debate Commission, which would oversee the debate process.  Personally,
I think this would be great improvement over the current system.  It is
my understanding that John Edwards has endorsed this concept, and that
folks are in the process of contacting John Kerry's campaign about
this, so there may be a decent chance that the Democratic nominee would
support this approach.  Since it is not clear how the Bush campaign
would react, it is probably important to get as many voices, from
Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Libertarians, etc., as possible to
speak up on this topic.  There is a petition one can "sign" on the
OpenDebates web site (http://www.opendebates.org); if you agree that a
change should be made in the Presidential debates, I would encourage
you to sign.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail, or a reasonable facsimile
thereof, to others who might be interested in this topic.  Thanks.

Jim