Subject: C-Span to carry 3rd-party candidates' debate Sunday
From: Richard Knee <[email-masked]>
To: "Knee Richard A." <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:38:05 -0700

Sunday's C-Span opportunity: 3rd-party candidates debate

      Maria Recio | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: October 15, 2008 07:53:06 AM

WASHINGTON --- Third-party presidential candidates finally will have 
their own debate: at 5 p.m. (PDT) 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.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/310/v-print/story/53922.html