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Debate Facts
•The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) sets the rules for the televised presidential debates and is run by former chairmen of the Democratic and Republican National Committees. The CPD is bankrolled by corporations that also help fund the Democrats and Republicans.
• AT&T donated more than $2.4 million to the CPD for the 1992 and 2000 debates -- and this election cycle shelled out $992,815 to the Democratic Party, $1.4 million to the Republican Party, and $1 million each to the Democratic and Republican conventions.
• This year, Anheuser-Busch has given hundreds of thousands of dollars each to the CPD, the Democrats and the Republicans. It is no coincidence that one of the presidential debates is in St. Louis, the corporate headquarters of Anhueser-Busch, which essentially bought itself a debate.
• In the 1992 debates, Philip Morris actually hung a banner that was visible on TV during the post-debate interviews! Phillip Morris donated more than $1.7 million to the CPD in ’92 and ’96, and this election cycle has donated $1.3 million to the Republican Party, $250,000 to the Republican convention, and $175,000 to the Democrats.
• The parent companies of ABC News, CNN, NBC, FOX and CBS donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in soft money to the Democrats and Republicans this year. Each of these media companies own a polling firm that determines the poll numbers for a Presidential candidate. It is these poll numbers that are used as part of the selection criteria for inclusion in the debates.
• Ralph Nader is the only presidential candidate who for years has
advocated for an end to cash-register politics and wants to institute real campaign finance reform.
Conclusion
The Democrats and Republicans and their corporate sponsors must not be allowed to control the information that reaches the American public. We demand that Ralph Nader be allowed to participate in the presidential debates!
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