{news} PASS ALONG_ THIRD PARTIES TO DEBATE ON SUNDAY NIGHT

[Tim McKee]

Third-party candidates to debate on Sunday
==========================================

By MARIA RECIO

McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON --

Third-party presidential candidates finally will have their own debate:
at 8 p.m. Sunday at Columbia University in New York.

The debate, which will be announced Wednesday, will include at least
three of the four third-party candidates - independent Ralph Nader, the
Green Party's Cynthia McKinney and the Constitution Party's Chuck
Baldwin. Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr said he has a scheduling
conflict, but debate organizers say he wanted to appear only with Nader.
(Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican nominee John McCain are
also invited.)

Nader and Barr are on the ballot in 45 states, while the Green Party is
on 31 state ballots and the Constitution Party is on the ballot in 37
states. Nader and McKinney also are on the District of Columbia ballot.

Organizers say the debate is an important exercise in democracy,
especially because the debates sponsored by the Commission on
Presidential Debates (the last of which is Wednesday night) exclude
candidates scoring below 15 percent in national polls. Nader, the best
known of the candidates, has an average of 2.5 percent in recent national
polls, according to realclearpolitics.com, while Barr averages 1.5
percent.

Nader maintains that if he could get into the debates run by the
Commission on Presidential Debates, his numbers would immediately climb
because "two-thirds of the people don't know we're running."

"It's a Catch-22."

Nader describes the debate commission as "a two-party dictatorial company
that doesn't want anybody else on the stage." The commission, created in
1987, is a corporation headed by two former chairs of the Democratic and
Republican parties.

But third-party critics of the system recently got some traction: the
second of the presidential debates prompted a chorus of criticism of the
"boring" format and the lack of follow-up questions.

Nader also will give the issue more visibility at a rally to open the
debates Wednesday night at New York's historic Cooper Union Great Hall,
where presidential candidates back to Abraham Lincoln have spoken.

(EDITORS: END OPTIONAL TRIM)

The format for Sunday's third-party debate is still being finalized. It
will be moderated by Pacifica radio host Amy Goodman. The issues promoted
by the candidates strike a different chord from the major party
standard-bearers - all four are against the $700 billion economic bailout
and all oppose the Iraq war.

In addition, each has his or her own agenda: Nader rails against
corporate greed while McKinney promotes environmental causes. The
Libertarian Party is a critic of monetary policy and likes to invoke a
return to the gold standard. Baldwin of the Constitution Party represents
a conservative, small government, anti-abortion party that wants to
"restore the government to its biblical foundations."

The third-party debate will be streamed at www.thirdpartyticket.com and
will be shown on C-SPAN.

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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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