08 Debates // Current

The Debate: Town Hall or Beer Hall

The financial crisis is far from over. After a steep global sell off and the closing of markets in Russia and Brazil, the bailout... more

GRITtv
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The Ladies Love the Maverick: The Cindy McCain Luncheon

Ah, now that things are really nasty, I thought it might be nice to reflect back on the Salad Days of the McCain campaign. The... more

citizenkate
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GRITtv: Is Substance In? Will Issues and the Economy Counter the GOP's Attack?

Editor and Publisher of The Nation Magazine Katrina Vanden Heuvel and Sarah Ludwing of the Neighborhood Economic Development... more

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If McCain Doesn’t Debate, Debates Commission Cannot Just Feature Obama

As of Thursday evening, virtually no one knows if John McCain will participate in the first presidential debate set for Friday evening in Oxford, Mississippi. Frank Fahrenkopf, co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates, and a former Republican Party national chair, said in an interview with Salon, “The law requires that there must be two candidates for a debate. If we did anything else, we would be making an in-kind contribution to the Obama campaign.” Of course, what he really meant is that there must be at least two candidates in a debate. In 1980, when the League of Women Voters was hosting presidential debates, the League invited President Jimmy Carter, Republican nominee Ronald Reagan, and independent candidate John B. Anderson. Carter refused to participate, so the debate was conducted between Anderson and Reagan. Both did well and neither damaged himself. Later in the season there were two Reagan-Carter debates.

Daily Kos, on Thursday evening, invited comments on the subject of “Whom should Obama debate?” (if McCain doesn’t participate). One commenter at 7:09 p.m. Pacific time said, “Why not let Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, and Cynthia McKinney debate Obama? It couldn’t hurt to hear their positions, and Obama would benefit by reaching out toward left-leaning independents with the gesture.”

Another commenter, at 7:16 p.m., said, “It couldn’t hurt to hear their positions? Yes it could. I am in full agreement that we need to reach out to all voters — specially those who feel let down by Obama’s bouts of centrist triangulation. We won’t get them by including those three…if it is outreach we need, we already know how to do that. Giving these people a forum they would otherwise never have gained does us no good at all. The risks of Obama looking bad in such an encounter are also far too great.”

Still another commenter, at 7:12 p.m., said, “Ralph Nader. Except that would be a real debate and the network would never allow that.”
As of Thursday evening, virtually no one knows if John McCain will participate in the first presidential debate set for Friday... more