The Third Party Debates
The first of two third-party debates was held October 15 at Columbia University. It included Independent candidate Ralph Nader, Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin, and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. It was hosted by Amy Goodman, moderator of the widely syndicated TV/radio program Democracy Now.
The second debate was sponsored by Free and Equal.org and took place in Washington, D.C. on October 23. The third party candidates who could theoretically win the 270 votes needed to win the election were invited, and Independent candidate Ralph Nader and Constitution party candidate Chuck Baldwin attended. Journalist Chris Hedges moderated. It was broadcast on cable by C-SPAN and on the Internet by Break-the-Matrix (BtM), one of the event sponsors (Other sponsors included Open Debates, the Daily Paul, and Steal Back Your Vote).
Libertarian candidate Bob Barr was invited to both events, but declined to participate in either, citing scheduling conflicts in both cases.
An Alternative Presidential Candidates' Debate was hosted by The Coalition for October Debate Alternatives (CODA), the Nashville Peace Coalition, and Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence at Vanderbilt University, moderated by Bruce Barry. The participants were Bradford Lyttle of the U.S. Pacifist Party, Charles Jay of the Boston Tea Party, Gloria LaRiva of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Frank McEnulty of the New American Independent Party, Vice-Presidential candidate Darrell Castle of the Constitution Party and Brian Moore of the Socialist Party.
On October 28, a Third Party Forum was held at Cypress College hosted by Associated Students. Bradford Lyttle and Frank McEnulty participated as well as representatives for the Constitution Party, Green Party, and Nader campaign. A sixth, Bruce Bongardt, also participated describing himself as a "virtual candidate" who was not on the ballot but wanted to share his ideas.
Read more about this topic: United States Presidential Election Debates, 2008
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