How YOU can help open up the Presidential Debates!

Target: The Major Party Candidates

Contact Bush and Kerry and tell them you expect them to participate in real debates, hosted by the Citizens’ Debate Commission. Bring the issue up at every opportunity, especially if the major party candidates appear in your state or on local programs.

Snail Mail is Best!

• Bush-Cheney '04, PO Box 10648, Arlington VA 22210.
• John Kerry for President, PO Box 34640, Washington DC 20043.

Candidates' Online Discussion Boards:
Bush: www.georgewbush.com/Chat
Kerry: forum.johnkerry.com

Candidates' Blogs:
Bush: www.georgewbush.com/blog
Kerry: blog.johnkerry.com

If all else fails, email Bush and Kerry, but it's not as effective as using ink!

Target: TV Networks

2-way debates are BORING (and it shows):

Debate	Viewership
	First Debate	Last Debate	Average
1992 Presidential Debates (3-way with Clinton, Bush and Perot)	62.4 to 85 million	66.9 to 97 million	66.4 to 90 million
1996 Presidential Debates (2-way with Clinton and Dole)	46 million	36 million	42 million
2000 Presidential Debates (2-way with Bush and Gore)	46.6 million	37.7 million	40.6 million

TV Alert! - Let the TV networks know that you won't stand for a closed, two-party presidential "debate"!

With the 3-way debate in 1992, viewership grew in each successive debate. In the 2-way 1996 debates, the viewership fell from debate to debate.

Sources for this info are:

• Washington Post, "Voter Anger Doesn't Equal Voter Apathy" by Dan Balz, October 21, 1992.
• FAIR's Extra! Update, "Three's a Crowd, Says Debate Commission" , February 2000.
• CPD Debate History

Encourage TV networks to reject the exclusionary debates of the CPD and set up their own debates, with more inclusive criteria for participation -- leaving empty seats for any major-party candidate who fails to appear. Glean language from Fair's 2000 sample letter to write to the TV networks listed below. Let them know that you're not interested in watching boring 2-way debates, and that you'd like to see more candidates involved.

ABC News 47 W. 66 St. New York, NY 10023 Phone: 212-456-7777 Fax: 212-456-4297 D.C. Bureau phone: 202-222-7777 General e-mail: netaudr@abc.com Feedback Website	CBS News 524 W. 57 St. New York, NY 10019 Phone: 212-975-4321 Fax: 212-975-1893 D.C. Bureau phone: 202-457-4321 General e-mail: audsvcs@cbs.com Feedback Website
NBC 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 Phone: 212-664-4444 Fax: 212-664-5705 programming@nbc.com	PBS 1320 Braddock Place Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 703-739-5000 Fax: 703-739-0775 viewer@pbs.org
Fox News Channel 1211 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10036 Phone: 212-556-2500 comments@foxnews.com	Other Networks: FAIR Media Contact List Yahoo Directory of TV Networks

Target: Local News (Editorials)

The upstart Citizens’ Debate Commission is gaining momentum and has gathered the support of several major newspaper editorial boards.

You can write letters to the editor of your local newspapers (and even national magazines) and argue that the debates ought to be open to significant third party candidates. Open Debates has a collection of editorials that have been written in other papers that you can model your letters on.

FIND YOUR LOCAL MEDIA

Target: Corporate Sponsors

Corporate sponsors of the 2004 debates have yet to be identified by the CPD.

Of the major corporations who sponsor the 2000 debates, Anheuser-Busch donated a half-million dollars to be the "sole sponsor" of the 2000 debate in St. Louis, MO. They have sponsored previous debates in St. Louis - which is where the October 8th, 2004 CPD debate will be held - so they may do so again this year. Would you like to discourage their potential support of a two-party debate? Here's their contact info:

Email form: https://contactus.anheuser-busch.com/contactus/email.asp
Phone (general info): 1-800-DIAL-BUD (1-800-342-5283)
Web: http://www.anheuser-busch.com/ or http://www.budweiser.com/
Snailmail:
August A. Busch III, Chairman of the Board and President and/or
John E. Jacob, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.
World Headquarters
One Busch Place
St. Louis, Mo. 63118
314-577-2000

Target: Commission on Presidential Debates

Tell the CPD to open its doors to 3rd party candidates. Their criteria include requiring a candidate to get 15% in the polls by September. This is practically impossible unless the candidate is a billionaire or a celebrity (or has been in a nationally televised debate!).

Janet H. Brown, Executive Director
Commission on Presidential Debates
1200 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 445
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-872-1020
jb@debates.org


Vote.com had an online poll in October 2000 on the question "Should Buchanan and Nader be Included in the Presidential Debates?" which sent an email to Janet Brown and tallied the votes. Check vote.com periodically for polls relevant to debates and third party candidates.

2) Hold massive protests at the CPD debates

Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader, John Hagelin, Winona LaDuke, the Green Party of the United States, and the Constitution Party were excluded from the 2000 CPD debates. They filed a complaint against the CPD said that the CPD violates the law banning corporate contributions in connection with federal election campaigns. The FEC dismissed their complaint. Now they are suing suing the Federal Election Commission, with the help of the National Voting Rights Institute, among others.

http://www.DebateThis.org/action.html