{"article":{"id":470,"heading":"DEMOCRATIZE THE DEBATES!","author":"Havel","created":"2000-08-10 07:55:33","modified":"2013-11-10 23:34:53","last_modified":"Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:34:53","article":"

Subject: [d2kla] Nader 2000 Call to Action! Call the

CPD!

After sending thousands of postcards to the CPD, the

next step now is to call the CPD directly and flood

their phone lines every minute of every hour from here

on through October (when the debates begin). Please

help spread this around, and use the attachment to

make flyers. Also, be sure to check out

www.debatethis.org

DEMOCRATIZE THE DEBATES!

LET NADER IN!

Call the Commission on Presidential Debates and demand

that Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader be

included!

The Commission on Presidential Debates (established in

1987 by the Republican and Democratic parties) intends

to exclude Ralph Nader, a candidate polling 8%

nationally (over 6 million people!), thereby silencing

the voice of millions of Americans.

The CPD is financed by corporations like Phillip

Morris and Anheuser-Busch (the sole sponsor of the

Oct.17th debate in St. Louis, OH)

Take a stand for democracy! Call media director John

Scardino or Matthew Vega (202) 737-7733 or executive

director Janet Brown (202) 872 1020 and tell them the

American public deserves a broad array of candidates

and ideas – Let Nader In!

For more info turn this page over! or check out

www.debatethis.org



A few facts about the CPD:

While the CPD claims to be “nonpartisan”, only

democrats and republicans are on the commission and

its two co-chairmen Paul Kirk Jr. and Frank Fahrenkopf

Jr. are the former heads of the Democratic and

Republican Party. 38% of Americans consider themselves

independent of the two-ruling parties and yet are not

represented by the CPD.

The CPD is a private entity sponsored by corporations

like Phillip Morris and Anheuser-Busch.

The CPD has set an unrealistic and discriminatory 15%

polling requirement in order for a candidate to be

invited to the debates, which contrasts with the

Federal Elections Commission 5% polling requirement to

receive federal matching funds.

The 15% requirement applies to 5 national opinion

polls but does not require that they even include a

third party candidate in their polling questions!

A recent Fox News poll shows 64% of Americans want to

see Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan in the debates.<\/p>\n

































































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\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"The Commission on Presidential Debates (established in 1987 by the Republican and Democratic parties) intends\r\nto exclude Ralph Nader, a candidate polling 8%\r\nnationally (over 6 million people!), thereby silencing\r\nthe voice of millions of Americans.","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2000\/08\/3rd_parties_unite.doc","filesize":"27.0 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2000\/08\/470.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":478,"heading":"bostonmobilization.org","article":"It's fine to make phone calls, write letters and demand inclusion. But, let's face it, the odds of Ralph Nader or any other alternative candidate being added to the presidential debates is almost non-existant. The republicrats control the process completely. In the end, it all boils down to money. This angers me as it should all Americans. I would encourage everyone to plan to be in Boston on Tuesday, October 3. We cannot tolerate this sham of a presidential debate process. If it's not going to be fair then we may as well disrupt it or shut it down. Take part in the protest action. Don't let the \"two\" corporate parties get away with this!\r\n\r\nThrough massive direct action in the street we can draw attention to some of our valid concerns. ","author":"Smythe","parent_id":470,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2000-08-10 16:05:18","modified":"2000-08-10 16:19:53","fileurl":""}]}