The 3rd Party debates will be held at Columbia University, and televised on C-SPAN.
So far, the forum will include...
- Ralph Nader (Independent)
- Cynthia McKinney (Green Party)
- Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party)
Apparently Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee, has not decided on whether or not he will show up, as he has stated in the past he wants to debate Nader only (interesting). I think Barr SHOULD show up. Right now, the Libertarians are the leading candidate (as a party) to become the much sought-after Third Party. For him not to show up and at least try to out-debate the other Third Party nominees makes little sense, as it would be a setback for the Libertarians.
John McCain and Barack Obama were invited, but have apparently turned down the invitation. The debate will be hosted by Amy Goodman, host of "Democracy Now!" This will be much to the delight of ol' Finnegan over at hburgnews.com, he's a fan of that show. :)
The debate will be Sunday, October 19th, from 8 to 10 pm.
No word on if the Columbia University security will receive it's own security detail to protect them should Cynthia McKinney decide to show up without her ID.
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2 comments:
Barr is an odd one. First he pisses-off Ron Paul, and now he wants to shun the rest of the also-ran parties. He isn't doing the Libertarian Party any favors with his strange campaign choices.
What we should have had instead of this debate sideshow was a series of concurrent debates that were simulcast along with the Commission's debates that were held with the two major candidates.
The way this could work would require a network to stream the two-party debate live, then pause the stream after each question then allow each of the alternative party candidates to answer the question. This could then be followed by playing the feed showing the two major candidates providing their vacuous sound-bite answers.
This would make the debate experience much more informative and interesting. It would also highlight how the alternative parties offer real solutions or sometimes wild alternative ideas, while the two major parties typically respond to debate questions with Madison Avenue packaged and rehearsed sound-bites that are devoid of any solutions for the current challenges.
Perhaps in 2012, we can have a series of concurrent debates, or better still, the alternative parties will be included in the Commission's debates (fat chance, since the Commission is run by the two major parties).
Agreed, and I never quite understood Barr as a Libertarian, since some of their key principles (and biggest devations from the major parties) are something that he has not agreed with in the past, but has now advocated (such as his new support for medical marijuana).
I really think an Obama victory will open the door for a third party to begin it's rise in America.
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