{news} ACTION- Open the Debates Action Week, Oct. 1-7: Let Cynthia & Rosa debate!

Wed Oct 1 10:45:03 EDT 2008

----- Original Message -----

From: "Scott McLarty"
To: natlcomaffairs at green.gpus.org
Subject: [usgp-dx] Open the Debates Action Week, Oct. 1-7: Let Cynthia &
Rosa debate!
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:03:47 +0000

Open the Debates Action Week, October 1-7: Let Cynthia & Rosa debate!

Help get Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente in the news and in the debates!

Goal: 100 letters to the editor in newspapers across the US

(Please forward widely to all Green lists and friends and
supporters of the Green Party)

On Thursday, Oct. 2, the first vice presidential debate will take
place at Washington University in St. Louis. And on Tuesday, Oct.
7, the second presidential debate is planned for Belmont
University's Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The third
presidential debate is on Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in
Hempstead, New York.

The debate sponsors intend to exclude the Green Party's
presidential ticket. Let's not let that happen without a fight for
democratic inclusion of all qualified candidates!

By excluding all candidates except Democrats and Republicans, the
debate sponsors are rigging the election. Cynthia and Rosa are on
the ballot in enough states to win the election, so they deserve an
invitation, and voters deserve to hear them debate!

We encourage all Greens and friends to participate in the first in
a series of actions we're planning for October. Please help us
spread the word about the McKinney-Clemente campaign and their
right to take part in the debates. Stay tuned for more actions
throughout the month.

Here's what you can do:

• Write a letter to the editor about how important it is for
Cynthia and Rosa to participate in the debates. See the Talking
Points below for ideas. Keep the letter short and focused -- five
or six sentences is good. We're aiming for 100 letters sent by
Greens to newspapers and news web sites all across the US. Visit
the letter-writing page to look up a newspaper and post a letter --
use the provided text as a basis, or write your own:
http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/Greens/pickMedia.jsp?letter_KEY=474

• Go viral! Forward links to video clips of the Green ticket
widely (http://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRun). Recommend and
promote video clips and articles with positive coverage of Green
candidates by 'Digging' them (http://digg.com).

• Promote the McKinney-Clemente Power to the People campaign on
Facebook, Myspace, and blogs. Don't forget to add links to these
important web sites:
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com
http://www.gp.org
State and local Green Party and other Green campaign sites

• Host a Debate-Watching House Party:
http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/Greens/event/distributedEventSignup.jsp?distributed_event_KEY=179

• Contact TV, radio, blog sites, and urge them to cover the
campaign. We'll provide a list soon of the top 50 that should be
targeted, with their contact information.

• Other actions: write an op-ed column or article and submit it to
a newspaper or news web site. Post a message on an e-mail bulletin
board. Call in to a radio talk show.

• Make a donation to the McKinney-Clemente campaign to help the
candidates travel around the US for media appearances and campaign
events:
http://votetruth08.com/index.php/contribute/donate?task=pre_paypal

==> The Green Party's Outreach Committee is planning open
conference calls to teach Viral Marketing Skills, open to all
Greens, where participants can learn about different ways to
promote the McKinney-Clemente ticket and other Green campaigns.
Details soon -- please join us!

~ Talking points ~

Open the debates to Cynthia McKinney and other candidates on the ballot!

Cynthia tells the truth
Let Cynthia debate!

• Voters have a right to know about all the candidates whose names
they'll see on the ballot, not just the candidates approved by the
Commission on Presidential Debates or the candidates whose poll
numbers declare them 'winnable.' Voters deserve to know which
candidate best represents their own interests and ideals.

• Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente, and the Green Party represent
millions of voices whose opinions will be excluded from the debates
unless they are invited. Ms. McKinney is the only woman
presidential candidate in 2008. Ms. McKinney and Ms. Clemente are
the first US presidential ticket in which both nominees are of
African ancestry, and Ms. Clemente is Black Puerto Rican. Ms.
McKinney has involved herself personally in the struggle of people
in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region to fight permanent
eviction and return to their homes -- the September 26 debate will
take place in Oxford, Mississippi, a Gulf Coast state. The Green
Party and its candidates represent the promise of an anti-war,
progressive party that takes no money from corporations -- an
imperative for America in the 21st century. No other candidate in
the 2008 stands for what the McKinney-Clemente ticket stands for.

• When debates are limited to two candidates, the voting public
hears only a narrow range of ideas, opinions, and solutions. When
presidential debates are restricted to Democrat and Republican,
important and popular ideas don't get discussed, such as
single-payer national health care, rapid and complete withdrawal
from Iraq, ending the war on drugs, saving US democracy from a
repeat of the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004, and impeachment of
President Bush and VP Cheney. Without Cynthia McKinney, these
ideas will be censored from the debates.

• Cynthia McKinney will be on enough ballots to get elected to the
White House. Any presidential candidate who is on enough ballots
to be elected deserves to participate in the debates.

• The only valid democratic measurement of public support for
candidates is the election. Opinion polls are subjective,
vulnerable to bias, constantly fluctuating, and often exclude
candidates from the questions asked. Polls are not democratic and
should not be used to determine who gets to participate in debates.

• The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which sets rules
for candidate participation, took over the debates from the
nonpartisan League of Women Voters after the LWV withdrew in
protest of the Democratic and Republican candidates' attempts to
control nearly every aspect of how the debates were to be
conducted. The CPD is owned and run by the Democratic and
Republican parties, which have an interest in excluding all
candidates except their own. The CPD is funded through
contributions from corporations, which have their own interests in
limiting the candidates who participate in the debates.

• In Canada, the TV networks initially tried to exclude Elizabeth
May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, from the September 10
debates before the October 14 national election. After the Greens
launched a "Reclaim Democracy" campaign and Canadians throughout
the country demanded Ms. May's inclusion, Ms. May was invited to
participate. Americans who value democracy and fair elections
should demand multi-party debates too.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for
the White House
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://www.rosaclemente.com

Cynthia McKinney on video
http://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRun
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=RunCynthiaRun
• Press conference, September 10 at the National Press Club in
Washington, DC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_5ivgS4asc
• Speech in Denver, August 24: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPxgcjOjUEc
• Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1NPlQjkqo

Rosa Clemente on video
• Interview: Current TV/Rock the Vote
http://current.com/items/89335393_the_organizer_and_green_party_vp_candidate_talks_about_her_inspirations

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******************************************
Tim McKee, Manchester CT, main number cell-860-778-1304, 860-643-2282
 National Commitee member of the Green Party of the United States and is a spokesperson for the Green Party of CT.
BLOG-http://thebiggreenpicture.blogspot.com

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