Groups Push Candidates To Change Rules For Final Debate
The Open Debate Coalition, an umbrella organization that includes the heads of MoveOn, Wikipedia, Craigslist and other groups, sent a letter today pushing Barack Obama and John McCain to change the rules for the final presidential debate, Politico reports.
This week's second presidential debate was widely criticized, with some going so far as to call it the worst ever. Among the Open Debate Coalition's requests is that "that the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate’s answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions," and that debate questions submitted and selected by the public be posed.
"The signers of this letter don’t agree on every political issue," writes the group. "But we do agree that in order for Americans to make the best decision for president, we need open debates that are 'of the people' in the ways described above. You have the power to make that happen, and we ask you to do so."
Full letter, via Politico, below.
Dear Senator McCain and Senator Obama,
Thank you for your recent letters affirming our coalition’s open debate principles, designed to make this year’s presidential debates more “of the people” than ever before. As we approach the final debate on October 15, we ask you to proactively implement such principles right away.
The closed nature of the recent debates has been universally criticized. The editors of Politico wrote, “The presidential debate commission’s rules are a scandal” resulting in “a format designed to limit improvisation, intellectual engagement, and truth-telling.” 83% of Obama supporters and 75% of McCain supporters agree that tough follow-up questions were lacking. Even Saturday Night Live spoofed the lack of follow-up questions in the debates, and the watered-down “town hall” questions chosen.
Therefore, we ask you to jointly announce the following in advance of the October 15 debate:
1) That the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate’s answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions.
2) That after a “town hall” debate full of questions handpicked by the moderator, none of which were outside-the-box, you will allow Bob Schieffer to ask some Internet questions voted on by the public in the fashion outlined in our previous letter – which you agreed to. Existing technology will make this easy.
3) That, as a stipulation of the next debate, the media pool must release all 2008 debate footage into the public domain – as you agreed would be in the public interest. CNN, ABC, and NBC agreed to release video rights during the primary, and CBS agreed more recently. But Fox threatened Senator McCain for using a debate clip during the primary, and NBC invoked copyright law against Senator Obama to stifle political speech recently. The public deserves to know debate video can be reused without fear of breaking the law.
4) That you agree to work with the Open Debate Coalition after the election to reform or create an alternative to the Commission on Presidential Debates, so that the debate process is transparent and accountable to the public. Despite both of your agreement with the open debate principles, the Commission did nothing to implement them – or even to engage in dialogue about potential implementation. Also, the “31-page memo of understanding” with debate rules is nowhere on the Commission’s website, and has not been turned over despite requests.
The signers of this letter don’t agree on every political issue. But we do agree that in order for Americans to make the best decision for president, we need open debates that are “of the people” in the ways described above. You have the power to make that happen, and we ask you to do so.
Thank you for your willingness to take these ideas to heart. If you have any questions, please contact: OpenDebateCoalition@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Lawrence Lessig; Professor, Stanford Law School, Founder, Center for Internet and Society
Ellen Miller; Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation
Craig Newmark; Founder, Craigslist
Jimmy Wales; Founder, Wikipedia
Aaron Swartz; Founder, Reddit
Patrick Ruffini; Republican consultant, former Republican National Committee eCampaign Director, and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Mindy Finn; Republican strategist, former Mitt Romney Online Director, and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Eli Pariser; Executive Director, MoveOn.org Political Action
Adam Green; Director of Strategic Campaigns, MoveOn.org Political Action
Arianna Huffington; Founder, HuffingtonPost.com
Markos Moulitsas; Founder, DailyKos.com
Roger L. Simon, CEO, Pajamas Media
Eric Burns; President, Media Matters for America
K. Daniel Glover, Executive Producer, Media Research Center’s Eyeblast.tv, and of AirCongress
Jon Henke; New media consultant (including for Fred Thompson, George Allen, Senate Republican Caucus) and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Matt Stoller; Founder/Editor, OpenLeft.com
James Rucker; Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org
Andrew Rasiej; Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident.com
Micah Sifry; Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident.com
Bill Mitchell; Professor, MIT
Josh Silver; Executive Director, Free Press
Carl Malamud; Founder, Public.Resource.Org
Clay Johnson; Director, Sunlight Labs
Robert Greenwald; President, BraveNewFilms
Kim Gandy; President, National Organization for Women
Roger Hickey; Co-Director, Campaign for America's Future
Billy Hallowell, Director of Content, VoterWatch
David Colarusso; Founder, communityCOUNTS.us
This week's second presidential debate was widely criticized, with some going so far as to call it the worst ever. Among the Open Debate Coalition's requests is that "that the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate’s answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions," and that debate questions submitted and selected by the public be posed.
"The signers of this letter don’t agree on every political issue," writes the group. "But we do agree that in order for Americans to make the best decision for president, we need open debates that are 'of the people' in the ways described above. You have the power to make that happen, and we ask you to do so."
Full letter, via Politico, below.
Dear Senator McCain and Senator Obama,
Thank you for your recent letters affirming our coalition’s open debate principles, designed to make this year’s presidential debates more “of the people” than ever before. As we approach the final debate on October 15, we ask you to proactively implement such principles right away.
The closed nature of the recent debates has been universally criticized. The editors of Politico wrote, “The presidential debate commission’s rules are a scandal” resulting in “a format designed to limit improvisation, intellectual engagement, and truth-telling.” 83% of Obama supporters and 75% of McCain supporters agree that tough follow-up questions were lacking. Even Saturday Night Live spoofed the lack of follow-up questions in the debates, and the watered-down “town hall” questions chosen.
Therefore, we ask you to jointly announce the following in advance of the October 15 debate:
1) That the debate moderator has broad discretion to ask follow-up questions after a candidate’s answer, so the public can be fully informed about specific positions.
2) That after a “town hall” debate full of questions handpicked by the moderator, none of which were outside-the-box, you will allow Bob Schieffer to ask some Internet questions voted on by the public in the fashion outlined in our previous letter – which you agreed to. Existing technology will make this easy.
3) That, as a stipulation of the next debate, the media pool must release all 2008 debate footage into the public domain – as you agreed would be in the public interest. CNN, ABC, and NBC agreed to release video rights during the primary, and CBS agreed more recently. But Fox threatened Senator McCain for using a debate clip during the primary, and NBC invoked copyright law against Senator Obama to stifle political speech recently. The public deserves to know debate video can be reused without fear of breaking the law.
4) That you agree to work with the Open Debate Coalition after the election to reform or create an alternative to the Commission on Presidential Debates, so that the debate process is transparent and accountable to the public. Despite both of your agreement with the open debate principles, the Commission did nothing to implement them – or even to engage in dialogue about potential implementation. Also, the “31-page memo of understanding” with debate rules is nowhere on the Commission’s website, and has not been turned over despite requests.
The signers of this letter don’t agree on every political issue. But we do agree that in order for Americans to make the best decision for president, we need open debates that are “of the people” in the ways described above. You have the power to make that happen, and we ask you to do so.
Thank you for your willingness to take these ideas to heart. If you have any questions, please contact: OpenDebateCoalition@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Lawrence Lessig; Professor, Stanford Law School, Founder, Center for Internet and Society
Ellen Miller; Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation
Craig Newmark; Founder, Craigslist
Jimmy Wales; Founder, Wikipedia
Aaron Swartz; Founder, Reddit
Patrick Ruffini; Republican consultant, former Republican National Committee eCampaign Director, and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Mindy Finn; Republican strategist, former Mitt Romney Online Director, and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Eli Pariser; Executive Director, MoveOn.org Political Action
Adam Green; Director of Strategic Campaigns, MoveOn.org Political Action
Arianna Huffington; Founder, HuffingtonPost.com
Markos Moulitsas; Founder, DailyKos.com
Roger L. Simon, CEO, Pajamas Media
Eric Burns; President, Media Matters for America
K. Daniel Glover, Executive Producer, Media Research Center’s Eyeblast.tv, and of AirCongress
Jon Henke; New media consultant (including for Fred Thompson, George Allen, Senate Republican Caucus) and a blogger at TheNextRight.com
Matt Stoller; Founder/Editor, OpenLeft.com
James Rucker; Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org
Andrew Rasiej; Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident.com
Micah Sifry; Personal Democracy Forum and TechPresident.com
Bill Mitchell; Professor, MIT
Josh Silver; Executive Director, Free Press
Carl Malamud; Founder, Public.Resource.Org
Clay Johnson; Director, Sunlight Labs
Robert Greenwald; President, BraveNewFilms
Kim Gandy; President, National Organization for Women
Roger Hickey; Co-Director, Campaign for America's Future
Billy Hallowell, Director of Content, VoterWatch
David Colarusso; Founder, communityCOUNTS.us
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 33 CommentsTo read about the REAL John McCain, check out the below link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
To read about the REAL Sarah Palin, check out the below link:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin
What I see there is whenever Republicans hold the Presidency for more than 4 years a depression follows it. Check the facts out.
2005-2009: Republican
2001-2005: Republican
1997-2001: Democrat
1993-1997: Democrat
1989-1993: Republican
1985-1989: Republican
1981-1985: Republican
1977-1981: Democrat
1973-1974: Republican 1974-1977: Republican
1969-1973: Republican
1965-1969: Democrat
1961-1963: Democrat 1963-1965: Donkey
1957-1961: Republican
1953-1957: Republican
1949-1953: Democrat
1945-1949: Democrat
1941-1945: Democrat
1937-1941: Democrat
1933-1937: Democrat
1929-1933: Republican
1925-1929: Republican
1921-1923: Republican 1923-1925: Republican
1917-1921: Democrat
1913-1917: Democrat
Now, why is a certain group people still stuck on the same two parties, I believe we all need a new party in the White House. Having the same last two parties has just gotten too old -- just by looking at their campaign ads, them two just can''t get along together. All campaigning and all campaign ads should be illegalized.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA6_k3NtXZs&eurl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA6_k3NtXZs&eurl
One of you will be president, the other will remain a senator. If you remain a senator, will you reach across the aisle to support the President to end the polarization that is paralyzing to nation from solving the healthcare, immigration, finance, energy, and Iraq war crises?
As president of the United States, will John McCain or
Barack Obama sign an Executive Order authorizing a
payment from the U.S. Treasury to each and every U.S.
citizen of African descent, of a check in the monetary
equivalent of the 1863 worth of forty acres and a mule,
as adjusted for inflation over time, with interest, as
allegedly promised by Abraham Lincoln at the signing
of the Emancipation Proclamation, as reparations for
slavery; given that a mule, in 1863, held the same
status and worth as a family car, today?
-------------
We will grant you the worth of a mule in 1863 if you will concede to the worth of a person of African descent in 1863. Otherwise, sue Lincoln.
did you help Acorn...sounds like you know so much about it. Fraud
is wrong no matter who does it. When the truth comes out that Republicans signed up to help Acorn...what will you say??
Who ever did it should be punished, by the law...maybe we can get the same REpublicans that checked out Sarah Palin...and said she did not abuse her office..to check out Acron..
Sorry...going in circles make me sick..
The truth of the matter we need another party in this country. A flawed view of reality is astounding.
Those questions you''''ve pointed out are really non-issues as they''''ve been debunked many times over. and the part about meeting enemies is something that those in a position of strength shouldn''''t be afraid about. Only the scared and weak would be afraid to meet their enemy. The Repukes who are against that reflect on their cowardice and weakness.
Now do you want me to post why you should question McCain? Are you ready for the truth? ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH?
Propaganda? All one has to do is visit a rally for McCan''t and Bin Palin to see it is all true. No Spin Needed. ALL TRUTHINESS...Your post only indicates blindness on your part...paid bloggers? You have any SOLID PROOF or just another of those dimwit desperate accusations?
The MSM created the McCain Hype through his embellishments. One good question during the debate would be for McCain; "Do you really think that we would be so stupid to believe that the Vietnamese would torture him after knowing who his father was?"
These "torture sessions" were not witnessed by any POWs. But logic, and the enemy had a lot of that too, would indicate they would avoid torturing the "crown prince" as it would reflect badly on them. The enemy was shrewd in using media to turn opinions.
If McCain really wants to continue the way he has proceeded this past week a PAC would end up swift-boating him in the last days of the campaign. Not only would he end up losing the election, he would lose all his credibility, all the respect he has mustered, and end with a bad reputation.
Now, does the republican party want that? YES THEY DO. MCCAIN WAS CONSIDERED MORE DEMOCRAT THAN REPUBLICAN BY A LOT IN HIS PARTY. Considering his life history he was more of a Democrat. He only went Republican due to political expediency - AMBITION.
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See all 33 Comments