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  • From: Phillip Rhodes <mindcrime AT cpphacker.co.uk>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [internetworkers] Open Presidential debates???
  • Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 12:16:02 -0400

Hi all, I found this interesting letter on the badnarik.org website.
It's from a group dedicated to creating a more open presidential
debate system. I thought some of you might find this of interest.

TTYL,

Phil



-------
For the last sixteen years, the general election presidential debates have been controlled by a private corporation – the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) – that has deceptively served the interests of the Republican and Democratic parties at the expense of the American people. And for the first time in sixteen years, an organized effort to return control of the presidential debates to a genuinely nonpartisan champion of voter education has been vigorously launched.

Presidential debates were run by the League of Women Voters until 1988, when the national Republican and Democratic parties seized control of the debates by establishing the CPD. Co-chaired by the former heads of the Republican and Democratic parties, the CPD secretly submits to the demands of the Republican and Democratic candidates. Negotiators for the major party nominees draft secret debate contracts called Memoranda of Understanding that dictate precisely how the debates will be run – from who gets to participate, to who will ask the questions, to the heights of the podiums. The CPD merely implements the directives of the contracts, shielding the major party candidates from public criticism. Walter Cronkite called the presidential debates an “unconscionable fraud” and accused the major party candidates of “sabotaging the electoral process.”

Open Debates (www.OpenDebates.org), a ten-month old nonprofit organization, is engaged in a multifaceted, national campaign to reform the presidential debate process. In addition to aggressively exposing the antidemocratic practices of the CPD, Open Debates has formed a genuinely nonpartisan Citizens' Debate Commission to sponsor future presidential debates that address pressing national issues, feature innovative formats, and include the candidates that the American people want to see. Seventeen national civic leaders from the left, center and right of the political spectrum serve on the Citizens Debate Commission (www.CitizensDebate.org), and over sixty diverse civic organizations serve on the advisory board of the Citizens’ Debate Commission.

Our campaign to reform the presidential debates is picking up steam:

On May 24, the Citizens Debate Commission announced sites and dates for five presidential and one vice-presidential debate to be held in colleges and universities around the country. View the press release: http://www.opendebates.org/news/pressreleases/05242004.html
Major newspapers have editorialized in support of the Citizens’ Debate Commission, including the Los Angeles Times. Read the Times editorial: http://www.opendebates.org/news/relatedarticles/gloves.html
A new book exposing the corrupt presidential debate process has been released, “No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates.” More info about the book is available at: http://www.sevenstories.com/Book/index.cfm?GCOI=58322100234970
Open Debates filed legal complaints with the IRS and FEC against the CPD, relying on secret copies of the 1992 and 1996 Memoranda of Understanding obtained from a whistleblower. View the secret 1996 Memorandum of Understanding: http://www.opendebates.org/documents/1996MemorandaOfUnderstanding.pdf

Now, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry must decide whether to participate in real and transparent presidential debates that maximize voter education, or stilted and deceptive bipartisan news conferences that maximize major party control. The Republican and Democratic nominees will only participate in debates proposed by the Citizens’ Debate Commission if the political benefit outweighs the political cost, and that calculus will only be achieved if sufficient voters demand democratic debates from them. Please help us exert that pressure; visit our website – www.OpenDebates.org – sign up for our infrequent Action Alerts, sign our petition, and make a financial contribution. With your help, we can restore voter education and transparency to the presidential debates.

Sincerely,

George Farah
Executive Director
Open Debates
www.OpenDebates.org
p: 202-628-9195
f: 202-628-9196





  • [internetworkers] Open Presidential debates???, Phillip Rhodes, 06/25/2004

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