[GPCA Updates] Open the Debates Action Week, October 1-7: Let Cynthia & Rosa debate!

Sat Oct 4 18:50:22 PDT 2008

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Help get Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente in the news and in the debates!

Goal: 100 letters to the editor sent to newspapers and news web sites across
the US

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the second presidential debate is planned for Belmont
University's Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The third
presidential debate is on Oct. 15 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New
York. The debate sponsors intend to exclude the Green Party's presidential
ticket. Let's not let that happen without a fight for democratic inclusion
of all qualified candidates!

By excluding all candidates except Democrats and Republicans, the debate
sponsors are rigging the election. Cynthia and Rosa are on the ballot in
enough states to win the election, so they deserve an invitation, and voters
deserve to hear them debate!

We encourage all Greens and friends to participate in the first in a series
of actions we're planning for October. Please help us spread the word about
the McKinney-Clemente campaign and their right to take part in the debates.
Stay tuned for more actions throughout the month.

Here's what you can do:

- Write a letter to the editor about how important it is for Cynthia and
Rosa to participate in the debates. See the Talking Points below for ideas.
Keep the letter short and focused -- five or six sentences is good. We're
aiming for 100 letters sent by Greens to newspapers and news web sites all
across the US. Visit the letter-writing page to look up a newspaper and post
a letter -- use the provided text as a basis, or write your own:
http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/Greens/pickMedia.jsp?letter_KEY=474

- Go viral! Forward links to video clips of the Green ticket widely
(http://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRun). Recommend and promote video
clips and articles with positive coverage of Green candidates by 'Digging'
them (http://digg.com).

- Promote the McKinney-Clemente Power to the People campaign on Facebook,
Myspace, and blogs. Don't forget to add links to these important web sites:
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.rosaclemente.com
http://www.gp.org
State and local Green Party and other Green campaign sites

- Host a Debate-Watching House Party:
http://www.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizationsCOM/Greens/event/distributedEventSignup.jsp?distributed_event_KEY=179

- Contact TV, radio, blog sites, and urge them to cover the campaign. We'll
provide a list soon of the top 50 that should be targeted, with their
contact information.

- Other actions: write an op-ed column or article and submit it to a
newspaper or news web site. Post a message on an e-mail bulletin board. Call
in to a radio talk show.

- Make a donation to the McKinney-Clemente campaign to help the candidates
travel around the US for media appearances and campaign events:
http://votetruth08.com/index.php/contribute/donate?task=pre_paypal

==> The Green Party's Outreach Committee is planning open conference calls
to teach Viral Marketing Skills, open to all Greens, where participants can
learn about different ways to promote the McKinney-Clemente ticket and other
Green campaigns. Details soon -- please join us!

~ Talking points ~

Open the debates to Cynthia McKinney and other candidates on the ballot!

Cynthia tells the truth
Let Cynthia debate!

- Voters have a right to know about all the candidates whose names they'll
see on the ballot, not just the candidates approved by the Commission on
Presidential Debates or the candidates whose poll numbers declare them
'winnable.' Voters deserve to know which candidate best represents their own
interests and ideals.

- Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente, and the Green Party represent millions of
voices whose opinions will be excluded from the debates unless they are
invited. Ms. McKinney is the only woman presidential candidate in 2008. Ms.
McKinney and Ms. Clemente are the first US presidential ticket in which both
nominees are of African ancestry, and Ms. Clemente is Black Puerto Rican.
Ms. McKinney has involved herself personally in the struggle of people in
New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region to fight permanent eviction and return
to their homes -- the September 26 debate will take place in Oxford,
Mississippi, a Gulf Coast state. The Green Party and its candidates
represent the promise of an anti-war, progressive party that takes no money
from corporations -- an imperative for America in the 21st century. No other
candidate in the 2008 stands for what the McKinney-Clemente ticket stands for.

- When debates are limited to two candidates, the voting public hears only a
narrow range of ideas, opinions, and solutions. When presidential debates
are restricted to Democrat and Republican, important and popular ideas don't
get discussed, such as single-payer national health care, rapid and complete
withdrawal from Iraq, ending the war on drugs, saving US democracy from a
repeat of the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004, and impeachment of
President Bush and VP Cheney. Without Cynthia McKinney, these ideas will be
censored from the debates.

- Cynthia McKinney will be on enough ballots to get elected to the White
House. Any presidential candidate who is on enough ballots to be elected
deserves to participate in the debates.

- The only valid democratic measurement of public support for candidates is
the election. Opinion polls are subjective, vulnerable to bias, constantly
fluctuating, and often exclude candidates from the questions asked. Polls
are not democratic and should not be used to determine who gets to
participate in debates.

- The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), which sets rules for
candidate participation, took over the debates from the nonpartisan League
of Women Voters after the LWV withdrew in protest of the Democratic and
Republican candidates' attempts to control nearly every aspect of how the
debates were to be conducted. The CPD is owned and run by the Democratic and
Republican parties, which have an interest in excluding all candidates
except their own. The CPD is funded through contributions from corporations,
which have their own interests in limiting the candidates who participate in
the debates.

- In Canada, the TV networks initially tried to exclude Elizabeth May,
leader of the Green Party of Canada, from the September 10 debates before
the October 14 national election. After the Greens launched a "Reclaim
Democracy" campaign and Canadians throughout the country demanded Ms. May's
inclusion, Ms. May was invited to participate. Americans who value democracy
and fair elections should demand multi-party debates too.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org

Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente 'Power to the People' Campaign for the White
House
http://votetruth08.com
http://www.runcynthiarun.org
http://www.rosaclemente.com

Cynthia McKinney on video
http://www.youtube.com/user/RunCynthiaRun
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=RunCynthiaRun
- Press conference, September 10 at the National Press Club in Washington,
DC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_5ivgS4asc
- Speech in Denver, August 24: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPxgcjOjUEc
- Music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1NPlQjkqo

Rosa Clemente on video
- Interview: Current TV/Rock the Vote
http://current.com/items/89335393_the_organizer_and_green_party_vp_candidate_talks_about_her_inspirations

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Complete list of Cynthia McKinney debate responses (9/27)

Cynthia McKinney on the Economic Crisis - (not actually a debate
response)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvOpvh_zy3M

Cynthia McKinney - Our Biggest Lesson from the war in Iraq - Debate
Answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2G3TYo8TT8

Cynthia McKinney - How do you view the US's relationship with Russia -
Debate Answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGciL71M5_k

Cynthia McKinney - Cost of Financial Recovery - Debate Answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtpW10qHlac

Cynthia McKinney - responds to Obama on sending troops into
Afghanistan - Debate Answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeuACTylIJQ

Cynthia McKinney - Why should the people of the United States vote for
you - Debate Answer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-o6718XVA0

Shot by Don DeBar