This is a follow up to my previous article "Not Invited to the Debate", where I point out that only two of the six possible Presidential Candidates debated this week.
On Sunday, October 19, at 8 p.m. eastern time, three more candidates will gather for perhaps the last Presidential debate of this election season. This debate will be shown on C-SPAN. It will take place at Columbia University in the Altschul Auditorium.
It will be moderated by Pacifica radio host Amy Goodman (http://www.democracynow.org/).
This debate is organized by The Free and Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) (www.freeandequal.org) and the Columbia Political Union (http://cupolitics.org/).
According to its website, FREE is a coalition of political parties, independent citizens, and civic organizations. It provides services to " include legal assistance to defeat the restrictive ballot access laws."
The Columbia Political Union is organized by and for the students and faculty of Columbia University. The CPU publishes the Columbia Political Review and voter education guides.
All six candidates, who are registered on enough state ballots to theoretically garner the required 270 electoral votes to become President., were invited. Only three have accepted the invitation.
Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party declined the invitation.
Barack Obama of the Democratic Party and John McCain of the Republican Party debated each other last Wednesday, October 15, and have not accepted.
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Update 10/19/08 9:30 a.m. EDT
George Dance reports in "Third-Party Debate Fiasco: Oct. 19 debate(s) cancelled" that the debate tonight is cancelled and a rescheduling is in doubt. Free and Equal Coalition plans an announcement on Oct. 21 ([link edited for length]).
COMMENT: It's disturbing that with just 16 days before election, that campaigns, which were capable of getting their candidates on a majority of state ballots, were not able to present these candidates on a national stage in a debate of the issues.
©2008 Bob Nightingale, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, October 17, 2008
Last modified: Sunday, October 19, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Bob Nightingale only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Bob Nightingale is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: David S
Date: 2008-10-17 10:18:16
I want to support Bob Barr but he keeps disappointing me. First the incident with Ron Paul and now he doesn't show up for the debate.
Posted By: daddysteve
Date: 2008-10-17 15:42:33
I really want to support the LP this year but Barr just gets worse and worse. He couldn't have done more to sabotage this years election if he was a neocon plant. Is he? One has to wonder. This could have ( should have ) been the libertarian's shining year. So sad.
Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-10-17 19:26:26
three have accepted the invitation.
Oh? That wasn\'t the case yesterday. According to the Miami Herald:
"Just a few days after seeming to agree to appear at a third-party presidential debate, none of the candidates is actually committed to attending the event Sunday at Columbia University in New York.
"Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney is a definite "no," saying she\'ll participate that night in an online debate, appearing remotely via Web cam. The Constitution Party\'s Chuck Baldwin didn\'t get the invitation until Thursday afternoon, and his campaign manager isn\'t promising anything. Libertarian Bob Barr was a no-show from the start, saying he had a scheduling conflict, and independent Ralph Nader, the biggest draw, is hedging his bets....
"On Tuesday, Nader said he was "optimistic" about being in Sunday\'s third-party debate, but by Thursday afternoon national campaign coordinator Jason Kafoury was noncommittal. "I\'m hearing all kinds of conflicting things," he said.
"The biggest surprise was McKinney, who told radio host and would-be debate moderator Amy Goodman on Thursday morning during Goodman\'s "Democracy Now!" program that she\'d participate in the online debate instead.
"Baldwin spokesman Odom wondered, 'Is there going to be an event at all?'"
Posted By: George Dance
Date: 2008-10-17 19:42:46
I really want to support the LP this year but Barr just gets worse and worse.
It's easy to believe that, if you automatically believe everything you read about Bob Barr here and elsewhere on the web; but if you'd check your information, that wouldn't happen. For instance if you'd checked this assertion (from the Nader campaign, which is planning the event) with the Libertarian Party, you'd have read:
"One such assumption is that "Mr. Barr has made it clear that he will only debate Mr. Nader and no one else." This, in keeping with the journalistic standards of a common Internet blog, was not attributed to anyone, or even checked with the Barr campaign.
"According to the blog entry itself, official invitations for the debate just went out this week.... the invitations to this hastily conceived event are still in the mail.
"All along, the Barr campaign has said it would be willing to debate any third-party candidate if the debate was going to be at the national level."